Awareness raising session for Parents and Carers 2014 Growing up online [Growing up online is a short presentation that aims to give an overview of some of the technologies children and young people are using. This is just the start, so please encourage your parents and carers to go home, talk to their child about the sites they enjoy using. Suggested script: As your child grows and becomes more independent, it is only natural that they take this independence online. In our teenage years we explore, try new things and sometimes push boundaries and take risks, this is an essential part of growing up. 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. The internet has changed all of our lives, and your child has grown up during this change. Many of the things that confuse, baffle or even scare us, are part of the everyday for them. For many of us, this can all be a bit too much. Whether you’re a technophobe or a technophile, it’s still likely that you’ll be playing catch-up with the way your child is using the internet. You might wonder whether what they are doing is safe, and you might also be thinking how can I be as good a parent online as I am offline?

What sites are your children using? What are your main concerns with regards to children using the internet? What sites are your children using? What mobile devices with internet access do your children use? Discuss with the audience there reasons for attending the session and start to talk about the types of technologies and sites they know there children are using. Do they ever use these devices unsupervised?

Learning Online? Computer skills Confidence Research Creativity Communication skills Money management Learning Online? Computer skills Commitment Confidence Whilst computers and the internet are an important part of our everyday lives it’s vital with technology moving on so quickly that we know how to use them safely. Research Creativity

Growing up online…. Can you name the sites your children uses for: From socialising to searching, online children are up to a range of activities. Read the possible suggestions on the slide. More information on each topic can be found at – www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents It is important that the audience has an overview of all the elements/ functions that make up websites and technologies children use. These functions don’t often stand in isolation. A number of them are usually merged together into one online experience and service. E.g Facebook – has all 6 from this year (from 2013).

Our main concerns: Unsupervised access to the internet Not using privacy settings on social networks Using social networks that are aimed at older children i.e. 13+ Using real names and sharing personal information e.g. photos The rise of cyberbullying and sexting

Results of a survey carried out by our E-Safety Council: 158 pupils in year 1-6 have their own mobile phone that can access the internet. 299 pupils in years 1-6 have their own tablets 135 pupils use chat rooms! Because of these concerns the E-safety council carried out a survey. 137 pupils have been upset by something they have seen online 161 pupils have been contacted by someone they don’t know.

Websites and Technologies... Social networking Facebook/ Youtube / Twitter /Instagram/Kik messenger Instant messaging Skype/ BBM/ Whatsapp Blogs and chat sites Tumblr/ Ask FM / Spillit Gaming Consoles / free and paid Mobile technology Applications Inform the audience that you will be taking them through some of the well known and popular sites children and young people use. [as a trainer it is advised that you visit these sites prior to your session to learn more] For each title on the slide (Social networking, gaming etc…) ask the audience if they could name any sites which would fall under that category. Read through options on the slide.

We did a quick look on the Instagram and found some of our pupils with accounts without any privacy settings. This means that anyone with an account can look at their personal information, photos etc. With over 800 million users and over half a million comments posted on Facebook every single minute, Facebook is still leading the way in social networking. [Trainers notes: many teenagers state that they are now moving away from FB, as interest has spread to other sites such as Twitter. However accounts are still used, checked and not deleted. So it is still very important to be talking to parents and carers about sites such as these] Facebook change their functions often, so to keep up you need to be a member and use the service. The highlighted box’s are some of the main functions you need to be aware of, which relate to children and young people sharing information, which is often very personal. Use http://www.reclaimprivacy.org/ to check your Facebook settings.

Gaming Ask the audience if they can tell you the names of the gaming sites their child uses? As you will know, gaming is very different to how it used to be. Put Pacman and Tetris to the back of your mind and think MMORPG – or ‘Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game’, which in short means that a site can have thousands of users and the game never ends. Many gaming sites allow you to play and communicate against other users all over the world. Children must use nicknames when playing these games and never divulge any personal information such as real name, date of birth or school. They should not use a photo of themselves as their profile picture – especially in school uniform. And never arrange to meet someone they have met online. One of the most popular ways for children to kill time is on their games consoles. Put your hands up if you have a console in your home? Keep your hand up if it links to the internet? The majority of these do, which means your child can link to other users, talk and play against them.

What do we do in school? In our recent Ofsted, the children’s knowledge of e-safety was highlighted as outstanding. Each year group receives focussed lessons on e-safety. Keeping themselves safe How to deal with a problem How to report a problem Recently we have seen that the children know what to do but don’t necessarily follow it. Class instruction on Privacy settings Demonstration on cyberbullying Use monitoring software to flag up potential issues. Outstanding in Ofsted – they know it but don’t always use it: Keeping themselves safe They are taught the importance of keeping personal details secure – passwords etc They know to keep certain information offline They know about photos and the copyright issues They know that what they write can be seen by many and is permanent They are taught about the report abuse buttons They know they need to tell adults/staff that they trust Recently had people tell us about incidents online which made us happy that they had understood and knew what to do. Surveyed some of the more popular APPS and websites and found several sites that were not set to private. Was able to view photos, videos and comments. Monitoring software scans for key words and sites. It takes a snap shot, records the time and date and the PC used and how was logged in at the time. It helps reduce instances of cyberbullying.

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/

What can you do? Look at your internet providers’ website. They can suggest settings on your ISP to limit access to certain sites. Visit www.thinkuknow.co.uk for more tips and advice Check the privacy settings on your children’s social media. Use the handouts we have ready to check how to change settings. Use http://www.reclaimprivacy.org/ to check Facebook settings. Consider installing monitoring software such as Cybersentinel. Internet provider websites carry instruction on how you can change the settings on your ISP so that sites can be filtered and access restricted. Talk to your children about the social networks that they are on. Encourage them to be open and honest with you. Get them to think about what people can see. Consider monitoring software. Settings on this can be changed as you go along so that as the trust is built up and you feel safer letting your child online you can change the settings and give more and more freedom.

E-safety Workshops In the future we would like to run some E-safety workshops, aimed at giving you the confidence and the know how to tackles some of the issues that your children are facing. Internet provider websites carry instruction on how you can change the settings on your ISP so that sites can be filtered and access restricted. Talk to your children about the social networks that they are on. Encourage them to be open and honest with you. Get them to think about what people can see. Consider monitoring software. Settings on this can be changed as you go along so that as the trust is built up and you feel safer letting your child online you can change the settings and give more and more freedom.