Do you ever feel that your children know more about online technologies than you do?

You’re not alone.   The Internet and online technologies are an important part of children’s lives at home and school, providing great opportunities for learning, communicating, playing and creating.   As we know, these technologies create huge opportunities for us all; however, they can sometimes be a bit overwhelming, and present challenges to keeping your family safe online.

Safer Internet Day (SID) is an annual event to promote the safe and responsible use of technology among children and young people.   The focus of SID 2012 is ‘connecting generations’.   It aims to encourage families to explore online technologies together.  SID 2012 will be taking place on Wednesday 8th February with activities across the UK and beyond.

Why not use this as an opportunity to start the discussions about being safe online?

Go to Advice for Parents /Carers by CEOP

Here’s a little Safer Internet Day video from CEOP to get you started!

This Guidance has been developed by the multi-agency Highland E-Safety Group and has been endorsed for use in Highland by key groups such as the ECS ICT Strategy and Informal LNCT.

The guidance can be accessed here
Social Networking Guidance for Professionals
On behalf of the Highland E-Safety Group I would like to say that we hope you find this helpful and informative.

If you have any specific comments please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Happy Safer Internet Day! To help celebrate and to raise awareness of new aspects of internet safety, The Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre (CEOP) have announced their latest resources available for professionals working with children and young people, some of them might be suitable for use with Parents and Carers too. Sky News carried an interesting article yesterday here with news of these latest resources and concerns about ‘sexting’ and research from Beatbullying

New Resources for February 2011

‘Exposed’

CEOP has developed a suite of resources designed to tackle the issue of young people taking indecent images which are then circulated to a wider audience. These resources consist of a ten minute film called ‘Exposed’ and accompanying lesson plans. The materials show common ways young people get into this situation, explore the consequences of these actions and what they can do if they find themselves in this position.

‘Exposed’ is aimed at 14 to 18 year olds, although in practice you may feel the film is suitable for those outside of this range.

More information on the resource can be found at: www.thinkuknow.co.uk/teachers/exposed and www.thinkuknow.co.uk/11_16/control/sexting/

You can download these resources from www.thinkuknow.co.uk/teachers/resources/ and selecting ‘Exposed’ under the 11 – 16’s tab. NB The Highland E-Safety Team issued Mobile Phone Guidance to Parents / Carers in Highland, this can be accessed here.

Suite of Resources for Young People with Special Needs and Disabilities

CEOP has developed a range of resources for professionals to use with young people who have special needs and disabilities. Three versions of an animation have been produced that convey messages in an appropriate format for this audience – available in , mild–moderate needs, moderate–severe needs and audio only.

Additionally, there is a dramatisation covering broadly similar issues involving actors who use British Sign Language.  There are two versions of this film, partial or full subtitles.  All films have an accompanying lesson plan and activities to highlight important themes.

You can download these from www.thinkuknow.co.uk/teachers/resources/ and selecting either ‘Know your friends with Josh and Sue’ or ‘Sam’s Real Friends’ under the SEN tab.

Interactive E-safety Game

There is a new internet safety game for 8 – 10 year olds called ‘Star Riders’.  This interactive game requires the user to answer questions about internet safety to increase the amount of time they have to collect stars and avoid nasty icons.  There is a leader board to encourage users to improve.  The questions users are asked will be changed every few months to reflect new themes.

You can access this game at www.thinkuknow.co.uk/8_10/star-rider/

Here’s the video clip of the Exposed resource

CEOP Safer Internet Day Competition

Safer Internet Day 2011 is not far away now! The Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre (CEOP) have provided a really good competition that you can use with any groups of young people, really cool prizes for the winners. It has two age categories 8-10 years and 11 – 16, so can be used for either upper primary or secondary schools and youth groups of any description.

A few details for you…The competition entry can be in any format you choose as long as it reflects the theme of ‘My Life Online’ and has parents/carers as its audience.

Here are some ideas of what you could do:

* Design a computer game – write down your ideas, draw them or maybe make a game with free software
* Produce a film – write a story, use pictures to plan your camera shots or use a camera if you have one
* Make an advert – create a poster or film an advert
* Create a cartoon – draw your own cartoon on paper or use a programme on your computer
* Create a photo blog – use free software or make a photo collage to send in
* Record a song – make up your own song with a catchy chorus
* Write a quiz – test parents on their knowledge and tell them what they should know

For all the details of the competition please go to www.thinkuknow.co.uk/mylifeonline

Dont forget! Safer Internet Day resource packs for primary and secondary schools are now available online. They can be downloaded at www.childnet.com by clicking on the ‘Safer Internet Day’ logo and following the links. Additionally, to support Safer Internet Day on the 8th of February 2011, the UK Safer Internet Centre will be launching a new website, www.saferinternet.org.uk, at the beginning of January.

We hope that all schools and youth groups in Highland will take part, if you need any further advice please speak to Louise Jones or Jim Henderson.

Ollie Bray, National Adviser for Emerging Technologies for Learning, explains the background to the creation of the tutorial here. Ollie has worked closely with Highland in developing their approaches to E-Safety and has been extremely helpful in supplying news, views and guidance.

The full clip and supporting guidance can be found here.

Why not use it as a Safer Internet Day activity as a CAT session for staff?

AVG have conducted some very interesting research summarised in the AVG Nursery  Infographic.

Babies and Children born now will have a much easier time accessing a ‘dossier’ of their life history as parents seem to share so much more information about young family members online.

What traditionally has been photos or antenatal scans included in baby books or family albums are now being increasingly posted and shared online. I’m sure most young people cringe when they go back home at a later stage only for the ‘bottom drawer’ family albums and mementos to come out! But what if they were online from the beginning? Thanks mum! But some parents or carers might not see any harm in what they are doing…….now.

This might seem to be on the face of it, fairly amusing, but what happens when the picture of home life isn’t so rosy, children become abused or stalked later in life, what if  they become looked after or for what ever reason need to be protected for someone harmful. What if they go on to be famous, wish not to have a public life etc? Just a few issues that could be considered when discussing this.

The full article about this research can be found here, courtesy of AVG. I’m particularly thankful to them for producing the infographic and allowing it be used freely.

We would recommend this is added to any internet safety evening presentations for parents / carers you might be developing. We will include this aspect in our Internet Safety and Responsible Use Training courses.

The use of social networks has had a major impact for adoptive families,  communications with birth families previously carefully managed through agencies has been become increasing difficult due to the ease of people tracing and contacting family members through social networking sites.

Two really helpful books have been produced by the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) if you wish to know more.

Facing up to Facebook, A Survival Guide for Adoptive Families

Social Networking and Contact, How social workers can help adoptive families.

Thanks also to my colleague Ollie Bray he highlighted the AVG research too on his recent blog

We’ve just discovered that 8th February 2011 is the planned date for SID 2011! What will you plan to do? Check our ‘Safer Internet Day’ page  for ideas on this site or go here for further details.

In Highland, we have a partnership approach to promoting e-safety by encouraging children and young people to use new technologies safely and responsibly. This has involved a programme of education about internet safety in our school communities.

As part of our approach we would like to offer all Parents and Carers of pupils in Highland Secondary Schools advice on the use of mobile technology. We also wish to raise awareness and specifically highlight the dangers of young people finding themselves in uncomfortable or compromising situations.

Research reported by the BBC has indicated that there is an alarming increase of instances of young people receiving unwanted images / texts or sending inappropriate images of themselves. Using phones in this way has become known as ‘sexting’, which is defined as ‘the act of sending sexually explicit images, videos or messages electronically’.  There are also future implications for young people who may not know that they could be breaking the law by receiving or sending such images. They also may be unaware that images may be circulated far and wide without their permission or knowledge.

Mobile Technology Advice – Questions and Answers

Owning a mobile phone for the first time can be very exciting and be seen as a step towards independence. As newer mobile phones become highly developed and internet accessible, they are more akin to a personal handheld computer which is constantly online, think about the same kinds of risks you would talk about with your child as if you had purchased a mini computer with integrated webcam.

What can I do to keep my child safe?

In purchasing a mobile phone, discuss firstly what your family boundaries might be, financially, insurance, theft and appropriate usage. This also may include not sharing their number with strangers or posting it on social networking site profiles.

Keep lines of communication open with your child to ensure that they are not afraid to tell you if they have received an image or are being pressurised to send any inappropriate photos of themselves. Remind them to report any images they receive to yourself or an adult they can trust. The Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre (CEOP) Report Abuse Button is a way of them finding out about how to report concerns too. The CEOP Report Abuse button can be found at www.thinkuknow.co.uk and on many social networking sites.

Remind them to switch off location devices such as Bluetooth^® and maps that automatically update where they are. However some parents may wish, at certain times, for these devices to be kept switched on so that a young person could be located in emergency situations. Keeping Bluetooth^® switched off keeps the device safe from receiving unsolicited images or videos. To prevent unauthorised use it may be advisable to use a password pin to unlock the phone to activate.

Remind them of the future consequences of pictures or text messages that can be widely distributed without permission or knowledge only to embarrassingly re-surface at a later date!

Mobile phone theft is often opportunistic and it is wise to remind them that they should not leave their phone in full view unattended. Each Highland secondary school will also have a policy on using mobile phones and this should be adhered to.

Remind them of street safety; it is important to be extra careful when walking, running, crossing roads or riding a bike whilst using music players on mobile phones, browsing the internet, chatting or texting.

What is the law regarding images and ‘sexting’?

The future costs for children who find themselves the subject of a Police investigation are potentially severe. They may find themselves charged with offences under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 in relation to making, possession and distribution of indecent images of children.

Ultimately this may lead to them finding themselves convicted of a serious sexual offence and placed on the Sex Offender’s Register.

What about Cyberbullying?

Being targeted by Cyberbullying, which is the use of mobile phones or technology to deliberately upset someone can be very distressing. If your child receives abusive calls or messages, it is important that they do not respond. They should report this to a parent / carer, trusted adult or teacher rather than delete the message so that evidence is kept.

Cyberbullying may also involve recording/videoing events without permission and uploading them to the internet, videoing events on mobile phones may also be a good discussion point with your child.

Where can I find further help or advice?

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre (CEOP) has a dedicated website that is for all children, young people, professionals, parents and carers. www.thinkuknow.co.uk

You can also find out more about the Facebook ‘Report Abuse’ CEOP application here too. We recommend all Facebook users add this application to their profile.

Childnet International www.childnet.com advice and guidance and a specific section called ‘Know it All’ advice for Parents and Carers.

General mobile phone advice and safety www.mobilephonesandsafety.co.uk

Also, check with your preferred mobile phone service provider, they may have further advice and guidance on specific networks and internet access.

What should I do if I am concerned about a child?

Tell someone what your concerns are – speak to a teacher, a doctor, a social worker, a police officer or school nurse.

Phone 01463 703488

or contact the National Child Protection Line on: 0800 022 32 22

For General Enquiries e-mail:CPAdmin@highland.gov.uk

Protecting Highlands Children, for information on the work of the Highland Child Protection Committee

www.protectinghighlandschildren.org