THE importance of being safe on the internet was highlighted to school children and their parents this week to mark Safer Internet Day.
Primary and secondary schools organised a range of activities on Tuesday connected with e-safety, many involving families too.
This year’s Safer Internet Day theme was connecting generations and educating each other.
Pupils considered the three Cs – content (what they look at online), conduct (how they behave online and the messages it may send out) and contact (who they communicate with and the dangers of communicating with strangers).
Department of Education and Children advisory teacher for ICT Julie Wilsdon said the DEC was working with schools, local internet service providers and the police to give consistent messages to children about staying safe online.
She said: ‘The internet offers excellent opportunities for learning, global exploration and socialising.
‘The development of web 2.0 technologies means that we are no longer passive viewers of websites but can interact, post comments, create profiles and play interactive games.
‘The internet can influence young people in a beneficial or harmful way and schools and families can play a crucial part in managing those risks.’
Some schools worked with parents to develop e-safety tips for families and ran parents’ meetings to discuss the key elements of e-safety and show videos illustrating some of its dangers.
At Victoria Road School in Castletown, children made a video of their top 10 e-safety tips, and there was Philosophy for Children session on e-safety.
Safer Internet Day was first developed as an initiative of the EU SafeBorders network.
It is run by Insafe, and has been marked in 74 countries.
The advice includes:
• Conduct – some people might not be who they say they are. Keep personal information, including passwords, safe. Observe age limits on social networking sites, look at privacy settings and be careful what you post.
• Content – what are children viewing? They should exercise caution over nasty or unwanted emails or reading or forwarding content that might cause offence. Beware of illegal or violent sites. Don’t accept spam and if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
• Contact – children shouldn’t pass on or reply to rude or upsetting messages and should tell a trusted adult if they feel uneasy about a message or approach they receive. Never agree to meet anyone you only know from the internet.