e-safety
Important ICT Information for Parents
Dear
Parents
Following
some internet safety training I felt it was important to send
some information to all parents concerning safe use of the
internet.
We
have become aware that growing numbers of our pupils are signing
up for Facebook accounts. In reality, this is outside the
guidelines for the site as members should be 13+. However,
we are aware that many have been set up with parental approval
and guidance.
Earlier
this year Facebook changed their security settings which meant
that accepting the basic set up means that all the information
on your pages becomes publicly available. It is absolutely
vital that you are fully aware of the information your child
is posting for their safety and your security. Your child
could unwittingly identify where you live and tell everyone
about that 'wonderful holiday you are planning for the first
two weeks in August'. In theory you could come home to a bit
of a shock! I think we have all seen where children have sent
messages via Facebook about their birthday party which then
draws people for miles to your house.
Based
on our training it would appear that with a few simple security
settings we can make our pages much more secure, not just
from the mishaps which could occur with the publishing of
too much information but to also protect our children from
anyone using the internet to groom children. This is a very
small threat but one which we do need to be wary of. If your
child is using Facebook show them the 'report it' button which
they should use if anything makes them feel uncomfortable.
I
have attached two links to information which allows you to
understand the security settings on Facebook. They also help
you to make simple changes to settings to ensure your children
are safe. I would like to advise that the photograph content
of pages should be carefully reviewed as there are many cases
where photographs and comments from the past have jeopardised
university and job interviews.
Talking
with your children is vital. Make sure that they understand
that what they write on line remains there and can be very
hurtful to others. They need to think about whether they would
say the comments to the person if they were face to face.
If they would not then it is not appropriate to say them on
line.
We
are going to put together some more age appropriate e-safety
work to cover in school.
Unfortunately,
due to the sensitive nature of some of the problems which
can arise from memberships and friendships on Facebook, I
have advised staff at school not to accept friendship requests
from parents and pupils and to remove any friendships already
accepted. I understand that this may seem a very hard route
to take but there have been quite unpleasant occurrences arising
from situations of this nature.
The
internet provides us with a rich learning environment and
technology will continue to take us forward at an alarming
rate. It is our role to prepare children for the future in
this exciting technological age so they are able to function
effectively and safely as they grow up in a world which is
so different to the one we may have grown up in.
Please
could I ask you all to review your safety and security settings
on your home computers? Most internet providers will be happy
to help you get this right for the age of children in the
house. Please talk with your children about the importance
of keeping passwords secret from friends and others outside
the home. My final piece of advice is to try to ensure that
internet linked computers are in a busy part of the home where
you can keep an eye on what your children are doing. In addition
to this ask your children what they are doing - our children
can be very effective teachers.
This
letter is not sent out with the intention of scaring people
but more to inform them of what they can do to help keep children
safe online.
Links
to information are below.
Links
to help you with security settings on Facebook (click on the
icon for a short video)
Click
here for more e-safety tips
Click
here for Children and ICT document
