With all of the potential that the online world and new technology offers, young people now have access to huge opportunities. They use technology to express themselves, explore, and be creative; it has changed the way they communicate. As much as the on-line culture benefits our students it is also important to understand and be aware of how young people are interacting with their digital spaces and know the risks online worlds present.
The school and staff encourage students to use technology to promote and support their learning. The school also recognises the need to assist students to be aware of how to stay safe on-line. The most recent development to this, within school has been the Digital Leaders Programme supported by Childnet launched in 2015-16, where Townley students become ambassadors and support other students on how to stay safe on-line.
What is the Digital Leaders Programme?
Launched in September 2015, the Childnet Digital Leaders Programme aims to empower young people aged 11-18 years to champion digital citizenship and digital creativity within schools and to educate their peers, parents and teachers about staying safe online.
This youth leadership programme will offer pupils an exciting online community, structured training and ongoing support from Childnet’s expert team, helping make e-safety learning fun and effective and helping schools work towards an outstanding whole school community approach to e-safety.
Townley joined the Childnet Digital Leaders programme and has recruited students to become Digital Leaders from all year groups. So far, the Digital Leaders have delivered talks to students during assemblies as well as taking part in the “Safer Internet Day” Campaign in February where they ran activities and workshops to promote using the internet in a safe and positive way for all students at Townley.
The benefits to the school and students are:
Parents and carers play an important role in helping children develop into young adults. Young people still need support and guidance in how they manage their on line lives and how to use the internet positively and safely.
Here are some top tips in how you can help young people stay safe on-line.
In the same way that you chat to your child about the friends they have at school and any activities they participate in. Show an interest and talk with your child about the websites, apps, chatrooms that they use and their friends participate in. Display interest in their digital interactions and ask them to show you how these sites work. Even better encourage your child to add you as a friend to any social network sites they may belong to. Ask your child whether they know where the privacy settings are and what to do if they need to report a problem.
Ensure your child understands the longevity of posting something online. Once content is uploaded onto a website it could potentially stay online forever. It is very difficult to “take back” the information, anyone who has access could have copied it for themselves, kept it for their own records or distributed it further. Many companies routinely view current or prospective employee’s social networking pages, be careful about what you say, what pictures you post and your profile.
Emphasise the importance of thinking before you post something online. A careless comment or sharing a picture online without thinking may be viewed as hurtful by another party. Ensure your child is aware of the dangers of posting something online without thinking. Discuss with them what is appropriate content and what is not. Frame it by saying if they know their teacher would not be happy to see that information, then it is probably best not to post it.
Parental controls are designed to help protect children from inappropriate content they may come across online. These controls can be used to limit access to only age appropriate content, to set usage times and to monitor activity. Ensure you know how to set them on any devices your child may have.
Boundaries
Just as you may have set boundaries for your child regarding staying up late and for going out with friends. It is also important that your child has boundaries regarding their on-line lives for example how long they should stay on-line, what information they should share. Keep discussing this with your child as they continue to develop.
Social media refers to websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking. Young people have an on-line culture and it is important to understand how young people interact with their on-line lives.
Social Networking Sites
Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are very popular with young people. These sites allow children to be creative online and keep in touch with their friends, as well as sharing photo’s and videos. Most social networking sites set a lower age limit for membership (13 years old is commonplace), but it’s easy for children to get around it and get online at an earlier age. Encourage your child to tell you which sites they’re using, even better ask your child to add you as a friend to their profile page. Make sure you are aware of any new social networks sites that become popular with young people e.g. ASK FM and be aware of what forum that site operates.
Ensure you and your young person know how to set up privacy settings and manage their on-line profiles on any social network site they may belong to. All social network sites have an on-line guide to help you navigate the settings. For Example Facebook have a parents user guide freely available.
Cyberbullying (also called “online bullying”) is when a person or a group of people uses the internet, email, online games or any other kind of digital technology to threaten, tease, upset or humiliate someone else.
Cyberbullying can take place at any time and can intrude into spaces that have previously been regarded as safe or personal.
The difficulty in controlling electronically circulated messages means the scale and scope of cyberbullying can be greater than for other forms of bullying. Electronically forwarded content is hard to control, and the worry of content resurfacing can make it difficult for targets to move on.
This can be extremely distressing for those being bullied. The person cyberbullying may never be in the same physical space as their target.
Cyberbullying can take place both between peers and across generations; teachers have also been targets. Age or size are not important. Bystanders can also become accessories to the bullying; for example, by passing on a humiliating image.
It can be the result of not thinking (something sent as a joke may be deeply upsetting or offensive to the recipient) or a lack of awareness of the consequences – for example saying something negative online about another pupil, or friend that they don’t expect to be forwarded or viewed outside their immediate group.
This is one of the reasons why it’s important to know how to respond!
(Information taken from Childnet) visit Childnet International.com for further details.
It is not always easy to spot the signs of cyberbullying. Be alert to a change in your child’s behaviour, for example:
The Department of Education has provided an advice sheet for parents and carers which gives comprehensive guidance on cyberbullying and how to deal with it. Here are some highlights from the report on dealing with cyberbullying.
If you suspect a young person is being harassed or bullied online ask them to give you details.
Encourage your child to talk to you and take it seriously.
Print out the evidence for future reference.
Talk to a teacher at your child’s school if other pupils at the school are involved.
The school community should support all pupils who are bullied and develop strategies to prevent bullying from happening.
It is important that the child is involved in resolving the issues as this can help to strengthen their self-confidence and restore a sense of emotional safety.
Ensure you and your child know how to report any issues when using social networks. For example Facebook has produced a support sheet Empowering Parents and Families which gives guidance on what do if your child is being bullied.
The UK Safer Internet Centre works with social networking sites to disseminate their safety and reporting tools.
The Anti-Bullying Alliance has put together a factsheet outlining the range of support that is available to schools, parents, carers and young people from the anti-bullying sector.
Source: Department for Education
Advice for parents and carers on cyberbullying. November 2014
Reference: DFE-00655-2014
How to set up filters on your home internet to help prevent age inappropriate content being accessed on devices in your home.
The 4 big internet providers in the UK – BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media - provide their customers with free parental controls which can be activated at any time. They have come together to produce these helpful video guides to help you to download and set-up the controls offered by your provider.
BT Parental Controls
SKY Parental Controls
TalkTalk Parental Controls
Virgin Media Parental Controls
Here are some useful websites for further information. To go to a particular site click on the relevant logo and it will take you directly to the website.
Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre
CEOP is the UK’s national policy agency for protecting young people online. You can get help and advice on a range of subjects and can report directly to CEOP if you are worried about someone’s behaviour towards you online.
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Get Safe Online
A site explaining the basics of safe surfing including how to protect your PC and avoid internet crime. |
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ThinkuKnow
ThinkuKnow is run by CEOP and has information for young people between the ages of 5-16, parents and resources for professionals to teach internet safety.
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Childnet International
Welcome to Childnet International, a non-profit organisation working with others to help make the internet a great and safe place for children.
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UK Safer Internet Centre
Where you can find e-safety tips, advice and resources to help children and young people stay safe on the internet.
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ChatDanger
This site explains how to stay safe in different forms of online chat including mobiles, internet messenger and gaming. |
Here are some useful websites for further information. To go to a particular site click on the relevant logo and it will take you directly to the website.
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KidSmart
Kidsmart is run by Childnet It supports young people in how to use the internet and to stay safe when surfing on the web.
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Childline
Childline is supported by the NSPCC. Provides lots of useful advice to young people on lots of issues including E-Safety. |
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ThinkuKnow
ThinkuKnow is run by CEOP and has information for young people between the ages of 5-16, parents and resources for professionals to teach internet safety.
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Childnet International
Welcome to Childnet International, a non-profit organisation working with others to help make the internet a great and safe place for children.
|
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UK Safer Internet Centre
Where you can find e-safety tips, advice and resources to help children and young people stay safe on the internet.
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ChatDanger
This site explains how to stay safe in different forms of online chat including mobiles, internet messenger and gaming. |