E- Safety

E-Safety

• The virtual world opens up new opportunities for learning and creativity, but it also means thinking ahead of new risks. We therefore need to consider basic good practice for keeping learners safe.

Promoting the positive Responding to the negative

Teaching and Learning• The internet and new technologies offer great

benefits and learning opportunities but it is important that skill in the use of new technologies is not confused with an ability to perceive and avoid risk; therefore education on e-safety issues is essential.

Creating a safe ICT learning environment

This has four important elements:

• an infrastructure of whole-site awareness, responsibilities, policies and procedures

• an effective range of technological tools

• a comprehensive e-safety education programme for everyone in your establishment

• a review process which continually monitors the effectiveness of the above

Our e-safety strategy should:• allow young people to develop their own protection

strategies• give information on where to seek help and how to report

incidents• help young people understand that they are not

accountable for the actions that others may force upon them but that there are sanctions that the college will impose if they act inappropriately when online

• ensure you regularly monitor and review your policies with stakeholders

• ensure technological solutions are regularly reviewed and updated to ensure maintenance of an effective e-safety programme.

• above all, e-safety education should be a continuing feature of both staff development and young people's educational lifelong learning.

What is e-Safety?• E-Safety – the safe and responsible use of

technology – is sometimes presented as primarily a child protection issue. While children, young people and vulnerable adults do need support to keep themselves safe online, the risks associated with the use of technology are not confined to them. E-Safety issues may also affect adults – for example, the mismanagement of personal data, and risks of financial scams, identity theft and cyber bullying. This will be particularly relevant for those adults who are new to using technology, there is wealth of online resources to support organisations and individuals in keeping safe online.

E-Safety risks can be broadly mapped across four areas:

• Contact

• Content

• Commerce

• Conduct

Contact• The internet provides people with access to groups that

they may not normally have access to. Internet contact can be a very positive experience.

• However, being aware that people are not always who they say they are, taking sensible precautions when meeting people face to face, telling others where they are going and who they are meeting, and meeting in a public place are all examples of good e-Safety behaviour. It is important for individuals and organisations to take precautions to prevent staff and learners making online contacts which could result in physical assault, or online grooming that incites racial hatred or terrorism

Do you recognise this man?

Peter Chapman

• Peter Chapman, 33, was jailed on Monday 8th March 2010 for a minimum of 35 years for the murder of 17-year-old Ashleigh Hall.

• Teesside Crown Court heard he posed as a teenage boy on Facebook and met her.

Do you recognise this girl?

Ashleigh Hall

• In October last year, she was attracted by a picture of a young, bare-chested man that Chapman - calling himself Peter Cartwright - had posted on the website - Facebook.

• Later that month, she told her mother she was going to stay with a friend. Text messages showed she thought she was being picked up by "Peter Cartwright's" father.

Content

• This could include inappropriate or illegal content, which in the UK includes indecent images of children (i.e. people under 18), material that incites racial hatred, and criminally obscene content.

• Content also includes the inappropriate public posting of material. This may apply to employees equally as to learners, and may include the inappropriate and potentially unsafe posting of personal data, or the posting of material that brings the individual or the provider into disrepute or impacts upon their business.

Commerce

• Risk issues around commerce include exposure to inappropriate advertising, online gambling, financial (or ‘phishing’) scams, pop ups, and inappropriate commercial use of equipment and systems.

Conduct• Conduct covers activities carried out against the learner

and also those carried out by the learner. This category includes anti-social or illegal behaviour, and the ranges of behaviours and activities that make up cyber bullying, defined by the government as ‘the use of Information Communications Technology (ICT), particularly mobile phones and the internet, deliberately to upset someone else.’

• Cyber bullying incidents are a cause for concern in many learning communities, and it is vital that organisations and their communities understand the issues, and are familiar with prevention and responding strategies, including investigating and referring incidents. The Ofsted report, Children on Bullying, found that 40% of schoolchildren had experience of cyber bullying.

• Similarly, learners’ conduct when using technology needs to be considered. Teachers are often faced with learners who use mobile devices in classes. Clear policies, developed with learners and including effective sanctions, will help deal with this.

Potential online risks

Commerce Content Contact

Privacy of Inaccurate GroomingInformation Adult sites Cyber -Advertising Illegal bullyingInvasive © and plagiarismSoftware / spam User generated4:10 pupils 9 -19 yrs trust the information on the internet1/3 of young people have received unwanted sexual ornasty comments online (only 7% of parents think they

have)

SMART RULES SAFE – keep safe by being careful not to give out personal information including name, address, passwords, photos to people you only know online. Remember once you have sent a photo, you have lost control of it. Learn how to block or save conversations that make you feel uncomfortable. MEETING – Meeting someone you have only been in touch with through the internet can be dangerous. Only do so with parent / carers permission ACCEPTING – Accepting e-mails, messages or opening files from people you don’t know can be dangerous – they may contain viruses or nasty messages RELIABLE – someone online may be lying about who they are, and information you find out may not be true, always check information with other sites or ask someone who may know. TELL – Tell your parents / carers / teacher if someone or something makes you uncomfortable or worried, or you or someone you know is being cyber bullied. Keep a record but don’t reply or pass it on.

Zip it, block it, flag it

• 'Zip it, Block it, Flag it' is the tag line for a new campaign introduced by the UK Government, which will show primary school children (ages 5-11) how to avoid nasty content and risky conversations on social networking sites. Zip it - keep your personal stuff private and think about what you say and do online. Block it - Block people who send nasty messages and don't open unknown links and attachments. Flag it - Flag up with someone you trust if anything upsets you or if someone asks to meet you offline. The campaign is being supported by all the major players, including Facebook, Microsoft, Google and Myspace

Zip it, block it, flag it

Resources

• There a many resources / ideas available when discussing this with learners, the following are a few ideas, scenarios, web sites where you can find in formation to support you

1. Think before you post…why?In small groups ask pupils to discuss whyit is important to think before you post? Whatcould the potential consequences be? As a class come up with:• some ‘top tips’ to avoid negative consequences. • Split the class into groups to design a

persuasive and eye catching poster outlining why all users of the internet should think before putting anything online.

2. Design a Logo

Each learner should design a simple logo or

symbol that could be displayed next to all

computers in the classroom, or home as a

screensaver / desktop background. The logo will

remind all internet users of the need to:• “Think Before You Post.” It should be as

creative, eye catching and imaginative as possible.

3. Class Contract

Learners will create a class contract to be agreed

and signed by everyone. The contract will focus on

suitable online activity, in relation to posting

material, and it will specify exactly what the class

intends to do and behaviour they deem

acceptable. For example “We will only post photos

of our friends with their permission.” “We will un

tag or delete pictures if we are asked to do so.”

Scenario 1

Pav is a fairly shy and quiet lad, with a small group of mates. Emma on the other hand is a confident, loud and popular girl in college. For a joke, Emma dares her friend Kal to pretend she fancies Pav and lead him on. Pav falls for it and sends her the explicit picture of himself that she requests. Before he knows it, everyone in college has seen the picture and he feels he is the laughing stock at college….

DISCUSS

Scenario 2

Last year Jay went on a college Skiing trip and loads of photos were taken that were posted on his social networking site. He had forgotten all about them. He goes for a job interview and his prospective employer has researched him and the pictures have come up…..

DISCUSS

Scenario 3

Lisa and Sam used to be good mates but have recently fallen out over something. Sam initiates a “we hate you” site. Lis is pretty sure who is behind it all, but doesn’t know how to prove it. Before long the site grows and loads of horrible comments are added. Lisa doesn’t know what to do…

DISCUSS

Scenario 4

Charlie uses the internet whenever he likes and for as long as he wants. He loves chatting online, and one day, he signs up for a new social networking site and enters all of his personal details. Soon after he starts to receive messages from someone who says they go to the same college and suggests they meet up…

DISCUSS

For discussion:

What other subjects might young people

discuss online which could reveal vital

information without them realising it?

For discussion:

Why might young people behave differentlyonline from offline?

This is designed to encourage you to think about the onlineculture of disinhibition and the question of anonymity. Theinternet can often seem like a very private and personalmedium to young people – a place where they can expresssome of their most intimate thoughts. A survey carried outby Pew Internet revealed that 37% of teenagers had usedinstant messaging to say something they would not havesaid in person. This means they take risks they would nottake in other situations.

For discussion:

How might young people put each other atrisk online?

It is important to remember that young people areoften the perpetrators of online abuse and notsimply the victims. Carelessly distributing friendse-mails or MOB numbers can put friends at risk. Many instances of cyberbullying are started bypranks. Advice needs to emphasise the importance oflooking after each other as well as looking afterthemselves.

http://www.teachingandlearningtameside.net/attachments/376_E-Safety_Internet_Quiz.doc

http://www.teachingandlearningtameside.net/attachments/376_E-Safety_Word_Search_(plus_answers).doc

http://www.nwlg.org/esafetygames/

http://www.teachingandlearningtameside.net/attachments/376_Scenarios_-_secondary.doc

Other places to look for support are:

• Kid Smart

• NetSmartz Teens

• Kidscape

• Childnet-int.org

• Becta.org.uk

• NSPCC