Internet safety and children


Introduction

Over the last few years I have seen quite a few things go wrong online and they can happen to anyone. I'm not a Facebook user but at some stage I set up an account and then let it sit because I just don't have time to get to it. Anyway the short story is, I don't know how it happened, but my Facebook page was taken over by someone who appeared to be a blonde female. 

A more recent event involved a scam that used my principal email. A staff member was asked to make some purchases on my behalf which lead to them being substantially out of pocket. As a result of this I had a visit from two constables from the Thames police station which lead to a discussion about an ever increasing number of fraudulent activities online that are impossible to trace and prosecute.

Internet safety and children

Having the children online for learning can be very beneficial to their development but it is not without risks and it needs to be managed with care.

At school, most of the incidents that the senior leadership team and I have had to deal with have primarily involved children bullying and being unkind, very often out of school hours. Over the years I have also come across students intentionally and unintentionally coming across pornography. In one instance we had one of our students (again from home) 'meet' a young male from overseas. As you can see, the risks are wide and varied.

In response to these situations it pays to have a plan. Here are some suggestions:

General guidelines

When your child is online please do the following:
  1. Ensure you know who your children are meeting online.
  2. Make sure the sharing of personal information is limited, especially with someone they don't know.
  3. Don't let your child on a social media platform that has an age restriction they don't meet.
  4. Turn the privacy settings on.
  5. Monitor what is being posted. Children do not always have the emotional intelligence to recognise a cruel comment for what it is. Once online it stays online. If something goes up that is inappropriate it can easily be screenshot.
  6. Practise safe browsing.
  7. Choose passwords that can be remembered but safe.
  8. Take care in what you download.
  9. Keep your device settings up to date.
  10. Virus check your computer regularly and keep your virus definitions up to date.
  11. Place the device in an accessible part of the house where it is open to all.
  12. Tell children to shut the lid and come and get you if things go wrong.

Process if things go wrong

If you need help with a social issue related to the school please inform your class teacher. The teacher will inform the appropriate person within the school and we will endeavour to deal with it. Sending us a screen shot will help. If we need to, we can suspend a student's email account.

If you need help with an issue unrelated to school use Netsafe.

NETSAFE HELPLINE


  • Call toll-free on 0508 NETSAFE (0508 638 723)
  • Email help@netsafe.org.nz
  • Text ‘Netsafe’ to 4282

For further information Netsafe have a very good article for parents.

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