Cyber Safety

This week I was fortunate enough to attend an online Professional Development opportunity in Cyber Safety run by Kirra Pendergast from Safeonsocial.  The sessions were highly engaging covering real topics of online safety in schools and at home to keep our children safe. 

Some of the statistics and examples discussed were quite alarming.  It highlighted the need for parents, as the first educators, and schools to be aware of the activities children are engaged in online and equip them with life skills to become responsible and successful digital citizens.

Kirra’s blog is found here: https://www.safeonsocial.com/blog and has some useful information about online risk and activities of children and what we can do to keep them safe.

Top tips for keeping safe at home

Some easy to manage top tips to facilitate discussions at home to keep children safe are:

• Be careful of requests – only accept ‘friend’ requests from people you know in real life. This reduces the chance of getting into an unsafe situation.
• Block anyone that is negative or unsafe – this stops them from having contact and seeing your profile.
• Think before uploading and sharing photos – post photos that show you and your friends in a positive way. Once it’s uploaded, it’s no longer private and could be viewed by friends, family, teachers and strangers.
• Be mindful of what you write to others – you never know who will read these comments and how they might interpret them.
• Think carefully about sharing links to other sites – the content could be embarrassing, upsetting or hurtful to others.
• Keep your online friends online – never agree to meet someone you’ve only known online on your own. Take one of your parents with you and meet in a public place. If they are who they say they are, they’ll be happy to do this.
• Think about your privacy – avoid sharing personal information online that could be misused by someone in real life. Check your privacy settings and make sure your account is secure.
• Protect your identity – pick a username that isn’t your real name and a profile picture that doesn’t show any personal information.
• Sexting – keep sexting laws in mind when taking photos and sending or receiving images.

Source - https://kidshelpline.com.au/teens/issues/staying-safe-online

Useful websites for parents

For reporting incidents, inappropriate websites and bullying -  https://www.esafety.gov.au/

For support with device addiction, incidents of online bullying and behaviour - https://kidshelpline.com.au/kids/get-help/webchat-counselling/

Over the next couple of newsletters, I will continue to focus on resources and tips to help support the safe use of the internet at home.

If you require any support at home please do not hesitate to contact the Pastoral Team at the College.

Nathan Mansfield

Assistant Principal - Pastoral Care