Internet Safety Parents / Carers Evening Gairloch High School

Partnership Working in Highland….. …..Getting It Right For Every Child - Everywhere

 Sweet 16! How the internet has come of age!  What are the benefits for us all?  What are the dangers for us all?  What a some of the key issues for young people?  Planned programmes in Highland schools  What you can do to help safeguard your children  Further links and open question time Tonight…in Gairloch High School…

Coming of Age - Web 2.0 “In a dizzying, energising and raucous return to the pamphleteering days of the 18th and 19th centuries, the people have, through the worldwide web and easy-to-use publishing software, been given a voice… They will not easily be silenced”. The Scotsman Source: The Scotsman Exposing the Exclusive 16 th September 2004

 93% of children use a computer and a phone  8 out of 10 teenagers have a PC, mobile phone and a game.  1,400,000 UK pupils have their own web space  There are 200 million registered users of Myspace  There are 2.7 billion searches on Google each month  The number of text messages sent every day exceeds the population of the planet!  More than ever before people use the internet as part of their daily life. Facts and Figures - September 2007 Source: &

 What do you think the benefits are?  Keeping in touch with friends / family old and new  Learning, researching and self-expression  Vital information sometimes inaccessible in rural areas  Homework! Learning collaboratively  Keeping up with perspectives on the news, global events  Commercial opportunities  Games, hobbies, leisure and belonging  Quickness of communication, s.  SHOPPING! Music! Benefits of the Internet

Why the need for safety?  What do you think are the biggest risks?  Commercial risks – Fraud, viruses and Phishing  Content risks – where has information come from?  Personal safety and security - meeting people  Psychological harm through bullying and ridicule  Peer preference, seeking relationships  Future risks, it may come back to bite you!  Increasing mobile technology

School, Home and Mobile Access School / Library / Community Facilities Fixed location, possibly laptops / WiFi. School filtering policies aim to create a safer environment, they also tend to be supervised. Information about How to keep safe provided. School policies and procedures in place. Home Fixed location, possibly laptops/WiFi. May not have filtering programmes in place, especially internet landline phones, gaming consoles, even the satellite television viewing box. Mobile Increasing access with 3G coverage, mobile phones with no levels of filtering and increased privacy in use. Costs are coming down with free texts deals and Internet access with instant Messenger, Bluetooth. Educating Young People no matter where they are accessing the internet

Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Source: CEOP Corporate Video

Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP)  Harm Reduction – Education, training courses and public awareness, international, child trafficking Safer by design.  Intelligence – Referrals desk, Assessment, Disseminations, Offender Management, Travelling Offenders, Missing Offenders.  Operations – Forensics Unit, Joint investigations, Financial desk, Covert capability, Victim identification. Source: Virtual Global Taskforce

ThinkUKnow?

Text Speak <  GR8 2 cu ll 2nite ty4 bn hre, hpe u njoy it S2UL8r  AKA  LOL! BWL!  LMAO!! OMG  BRB, POS  B4N  BION

Key issues Friends or Frenemies?

Key issues Real or Virtual?

Spokeo

Ensuring Young People know how to report concerns

Signs of normal teenage behaviour or more?  Secretive behaviour, spending hours online but switching off the screen whenever another adult is within sight  Changes in behaviour, feelings of elation or upset after spending time on the internet  Excessive anger or frustration at not being able to access the internet at certain times  Change in use of appearance for using webcams, dressing or looking older  Sudden change in language – sexual nature

What can parents do?  Keep communication open, what sites interest them, sharing favourite sites for information and shopping. Remember the benefits above all else.  Ask them to explain to you how new sites work, they have grown up with the internet!  Keep a family address for use to sign up to sites rather than their own. Remind them of giving out personal details.  Keep a spam filter for s, remind them of ‘special offer or prize’ s. “If it looks too good to be true it usually is!” Question any unsolicited mail.

What can parents do?  Keep a family PC in a safer location, laptops and wireless are much more common nowadays. Apply control settings and virus tools. Set your own ground-rules for using webcams  Why not have a family understanding about personal information about self and others  Illegally downloading from sites is not only breaking the law, it can lead to accessing files contain unpleasant unexpected pictures.  Remind children if they want to meet someone offline, NEVER go without a trusted adult.  It’s never too late to report something and no-one will judge your child or you.

Useful links and Resources  (parents section)  (special parents section & leaflets for download) (CD resource for schools)       Check your school website and speak to school staff

Balancing the internet Thank you Louise & Jim