.

1. Only accept friends you know

In order to prevent harassment from strangers, only accept friend requests from people you know and report any messages or profiles that look suspicious. Facebook is based on a real name culture, and fake profiles are regularly disabled when they’re reported to us. Only confirmed friends can post to your Walls or contact you via Facebook Chat, so if you’re worried that someone will make inappropriate posts or send offensive messages, you should ignore that person’s request.

2. Stop abusive behaviour

A block prevents someone from viewing your profile. If you receive inappropriate or abusive communication, you can block the person by listing his or her name in the “Blocking People” box at the bottom of the privacy page. In addition to blocking, if you receive abusive messages on your wall or via Facebook chat, you can remove the offender from your friend list.

3. Report trouble directly to Facebook

You can report an abusive user by clicking the “Report/Block person” link that appears at the bottom of that person’s profile. Additionally, if you are informed of inappropriate behavior on the part of someone you have already blocked, ask a friend to report that person on your behalf. Reports are confidential and the person being reported does not know that they have been reported. After a report is submitted, Facebook will investigate the issue and make a determination as to whether or not the content should remain on the site based on its terms of use. A Facebook administrator looks into each report thoroughly in order to decide the appropriate course of action.

4. Keep your information private

Restrict your privacy settings on Facebook so that certain people can’t access information like your Wall, photos, or profile. You can also customize your privacy settings if you feel uncomfortable about being found in searches or having your profile viewed publicly. Privacy on Facebook is controlled primarily from the privacy settings page, which can be accessed from the settings link at the top of any Facebook page.

5. Don’t react to bullies – block, report or delete them

Rather than responding to a bully directly via inbox, a Wall post, or Facebook Chat, you can delete offensive posts from your Wall or messages from your Inbox and then use the “Blocking” or “Reporting” functions to resolve the issue safely.

To delete an offensive Wall post, hover over the post in question, click the “Remove” button that appears, and select “Delete” in the dialogue box.

To delete a message from Inbox, simply click the “Delete” button at the top of the message. Because only confirmed friends can post to a Wall or send a message through Chat, users who don’t like the posts and Chat messages they’re receiving should consider removing the people responsible from their friends list.

Guidance on tackling bullying via the Internet and mobile phones is soon to be distributed to all staff in education, culture and sport establishments throughout The Highland Council’s area.

Councillor Bill Fernie, Chairman of the Council’s Education, Culture and Sport Committee said: “Members have given their full endorsement to new Cyberbullying Guidance which was created by a multi-agency/organisation working group.”

The working group consulted widely with the Local Negotiating Committee for Teachers (LNCT), the Council’s E-Safety Strategy Group, parents and teachers of primary and secondary schools; Northern Constabulary and NHS Highland; the Council’s Legal Service and Education, Culture and Sport Service Officers; and the voluntary sector.

Report author, Louise Jones, Health Promoting Schools Manager informed members that advice on the draft version of the guidance was also sought from the national anti-bullying organisation ‘Respectme’. She stated that: “Respectme are unaware of any other authority in Scotland which has developed support for professionals with the unique issues which cyberbullying can present, and that Respectme congratulated Highland Council on its approach to this issue.”

The Cyberbullying Guidance will support Education, Culture and Sport staff who have to deal with children and young people who may be on the receiving end of cyberbullying. The guidance will also enable staff to learn how to avoid cyberbullying.

Louise Jones added: “Cyberbullying can have devastating impacts on the targets, some of which have been our own staff in recent times through teacher rating websites. The guidance will also help staff who they themselves have been on the receiving end of cyberbullying.”

The guidance covers; an explanation of what constitutes cyberbullying; the Laws concerned; preventing, responding and investigating cyberbullying and how to work with the person displaying cyberbullying behaviour.

Further information on cyberbullying and e-safety can be found on www.highlandesafety.wordpress.com or by contacting Louise Jones on tel: 01463 702066.

For more detailed information follow this link

N-Dubz have released their new single ‘RU Cyber Safe’. N-Dubz are ambassadors for CyberMentors – a website which helps young people support each other through mentoring

Childnet has worked with Clicker to present a simplified version of the animation featuring Captain Kara in an on-screen talking book format, covering the five chapters of the adventure and offering the opportunity for reinforcement of the key messages. Backing this up, Clicker’s presentation of the SMART Rules focuses specifically on the five rules covered in the animation. Both resources are designed so that teachers can follow-up the story and the important e-safety messages within it.

Childnet has also teamed up with Widgit Software to produce a whole set of Widgit symbol materials presenting the SMART rules for use with those who use these communication tools.

Both of these resources reinforce the e-safety messages contained within Know IT All for Primary schools, and can be accessed at http://www.childnet.com/kia/sen/

From Kent ICT Blog

A new website to help parents understand more about their child’s Internet use has been set up by Vodafone. http://parents.vodafone.com This has been developed in conjunction with Mumsnet.

The aim of the website is to help parents play an active and essential role in their children’s digital world and to get to grips with their use of mobiles, Twitter and other online social media.The site explains the kinds of activities children will be undertaking online and offers some useful e-safety advice for parents to consider

Do you know what a web browser is? Do you know the difference between a browser and a search engine? These aren’t trick questions, but it turns out that on a random day back in June in New York’s Times Square, less than 8% of people polled had any idea what a browser was. This one minute video explains very simply what a web browser is

Increasingly more and more favourite games are becoming available through online multi-player platforms, these can be great educational tools as well as just for enjoyment.

It’s one of the questions that comes up a lot on our E-Safety work to Parents / Carers and professionals, ’How do you set controls and ensure safety’? So to have this new resource with practical tips, tricks and Q & A’s is incredibly helpful.

This UK site, www.askaboutgames.com really is a must have resource for professionals, parents/carers and players too. It’s got great advice on playing both on and offline games sensibly and is relevant for all ages and stages. There are downloadable pdfs of information sheets and I you can order hard copies of the credit card sized information booklets if you contact them or CEOP direct.

Quintura. Another search site aimed specifically for young people

This film shows how parents can become aware of internet safety issues by using resources like Know IT All for parents. This interactive resource was the winner of the 2009 BETT Award for E-Safety..

Managing Your Media

Two-thirds of 5-7 year olds now use the internet at home, rising to over three-quarters of 8-11 year olds and over four-fifths of 12-15s.

Of these, one fifth of 5-7 year olds use the internet without an adult present, as do almost half of 8-11 year olds and two-thirds of 12-15s.

12-15 year olds say they spend an average of nearly 14 hours a week online.

Over a third of 12-15 year olds say they mostly access the internet in their bedroom. During this time they could encounter inappropriate or even potentially harmful content.

Find out what you can do to help children enjoy the internet safely this summer by watching or reading Ofcom’s guide to show parents and carers how to use parental controls and filters to manage their children’s access to digital TV and internet content. The guide also encourages parents and carers to talk to their children about what they do on the internet and how to use it safely. You can watch the Oftcom video below and download their guide for parents from this section of the Ofcom web site.

With thanks to Kent ICT Blog