Twenty years ago, kids in school had never even heard of the internet. Now, I ’ ll bet you can ’ t find a single person in your school who hasn ’ t at least heard of it. In fact, many of us use it on a regular basis and even have access to it from our homes! The ‘ net ’ in internet really stands for network. A network is two or more computers connected together so that information can be shared, or sent from one computer to another. The internet is a vast resource for all types of information. You may enjoy using it to do research for a school project, downloading your favorite songs or communicating with friends and family. Information is accessed through web pages that companies, organizations and individuals create and post. It ’ s kind of like a giant bulletin board that the whole world uses! But since anyone can put anything on the internet, you also have to be careful and use your best judgment and a little common sense. Just because you read something on a piece of paper someone sticks on a bulletin board doesn ’ t mean it is good information, or even correct, for that matter. So you have to be sure that whoever posted the information knows what they ’ re talking about, especially if you ’ re doing research! But what if you ’ re just emailing people? You still have to be very careful. If you ’ ve never met the person that you ’ re communicating with online, you could be on dangerous ground! You should never give out any personal information to someone you don ’ t know, not even your name! And just like you can ’ t believe the information on every website out there, you can ’ t rely on what strangers you ‘ meet ’ on the internet tell you either. Just like you could make up things about yourself to tell someone, someone else could do the same to you!