Formal blog task - Week 8 - Internet Safety

Internet safety in the classroom is very important. Just as adults can be taken in by fraudsters online, children can be at risk if they are not sensible in how they use the internet. In this blog post the discussion of some of the issues surrounding internet safety will be deliberated by drawing upon different sources to illustrate.

The Bryon Review (2008) recognises that in today’s society 99% of all children aged 8-17 use the internet. It distinguishes that that new teachers entering the profession of teachers should be equipped with e-safety knowledge and skills where reducing the availability, restricting access and increasing resilience within children’s e-safety should be prominent. There are many resources which can help trainee teachers to become prepared with delivering knowledge about e-safety to children. KidSMART (2009) is one resource which could help teachers in the way that it is interactive and accessible giving lots of relevant information about e-safety. Digizen (2014) is also another useful resource which can enhance the awareness and the understanding of what the issue of internet can bring. It encourages teachers to get across to the users of technology to be and become responsible whilst using the internet.

The Metropolitan Police (2014) extricates an issue within children using the internet and explains that the internet offers people a huge amount of freedom which can lead to people to behave in ways they would not behave in public. Cyber bullying is a big issue currently in society with the use of the internet, where children are exposed and taking part in it. Misha, Saini and Solomon (2009) states that most online interactions are neutral or positive, the Internet provides a new means through which children are bullied. The BullyingUK website is a good resource for teachers and children to use and look at, where it defines cyber bullying and reiterates what to do if you are being cyber bullied. 

Furthermore, another potential issue in regards to internet safety perhaps more specifically to KS2 and towards secondary school children, is the aspect of children meeting online contacts offline. Livingstone et al (2010) proposes that 29% of UK children have had contact online with someone they have not met face to face and that 4% of children have gone to an offline meeting with someone first met online. The web resource Us Online is one in will suit this issue to educate children as it gives eSafety scenarios to develop awareness and understanding when engaging online on the internet.

Through researching about internet safety and demonstrating how issues relating to internet safety in how teachers can use resources to support e-safety, has developed my knowledge more with implications for my future practice. Whilst undertaking ICT on my future practice and using the internet, I will incorporate internet safety within my teaching to make sure children have the knowledge and ideas of how to stay safe on the internet. Furthermore with my future practice and having the ambition to be an ICT co-ordinator in school, an idea of participating in an internet safety week will be beneficial to children in school.

Bibliography

BullyingUK. Available at: < http://www.bullying.co.uk/cyberbullying/>[Accessed on 04/03/2014]

Department for Children, Schools and Family. (2003). The Bryon Review. Available at: <http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/Byron_Review_Action_Plan.pdf> [Accessed on 04/03/2014]

Digizen. (2014). Digizen. Available at: <http://www.digizen.org/> [Accessed on 04/03/2014]

KidSMART. (2009). KidSMART. Available at: <http://www.kidsmart.org.uk/> [Accessed on 04/03/2014]

Misha, F. Saini, S. and Solomon,S. On-going and online: Children and youth's perceptions of cyber bullying. Available at: < http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0190740909001200/1-s2.0-S0190740909001200-main.pdf?_tid=ce4626d4-a394-11e3-ad8c-00000aacb35e&acdnat=1393934706_f5dee4f489e179a3f511b487fea8785c>[Accessed 04/03/2014]

Livingstone, S. Haddon, L. Görzig, A. Ólafsson, K. (2010). [pdf] Risks and safety for children on the internet the UK report.

The Metropolitan Police. (2014). Internet Safety. Available at: <http://safe.met.police.uk/internet_safety/get_the_facts.html> [Accessed on 04/03/2014]

Us Online. Available at: <www.usonline.lgfl.net> [Accessed on 04/03/2014]