Shopping Mall Safety

I'm trying to recall if my middle and high school teachers ever discussed safety in shopping malls with my classes, when I was a student. To the best of my memory we never had these discussions. Certainly, as a young child I learned about "stranger dangers" and "red lights" in school. But, by the time I reached the upper grades, I guess my teachers assumed that my classmates and I understood safety. Should my teachers have been teaching this safety throughout my education, or was it more appropriate to focus on disciplinary learning within the disciplines of school?

What's my point?

I'm considering whether or not middle and high school teachers should continue to spend precious academic time focusing on technological safety?

I know a lot of people will disagree with me. But, perhaps I would argue that in an ideal school setting, middle and high school teachers should not spend time focusing on technological safety. Instead, students should enter these grades recognizing the dangers of being "online" and knowing how to avoid these dangers. Elementary school students should have the opportunity to meet with community members who teach about the importance of online safety. It's as important for young children to learn about online safety today as it is for them to learn to look both ways before crossing the street and not to talk to strangers.

While I might suggest that in an ideal educational system, middle and high school teachers need not spend time teaching important safety concepts that students should have learned in earlier grades, parents clearly continue to have a responsibility to monitor their children's behavior throughout their teenage years. Parents have a responsibility to continue to discuss important safety issues

By the way, I recognize that we don't live in an ideal world and our educational system is real not ideal.