Week 8 - Internet Safety in the Classroom

Children use ICT in their everyday lives at home and at school.  The internet is very popular with all children and offers a wide range of opportunities for fun, learning and development (Becta, 2007 and Byron, 2008).  However, with the advent of Web 2.0, web-based technologies that emphasize collaboration and sharing among users, children are no longer passive viewers online but active creators of digital content (Becta, 2007).  By engaging at younger ages and being active contributors; children are at risk of viewing unappropriated content or becoming in contact with strangers that could lead the children outside the safety net provided by teachers and parents from a young age.  The new national curriculum (DfE, 2013) outlines internet safety, or e-safety, as being able to use the technology safely and respectfully while identifying what to do and where they can go for support about content or contact they come across on the internet.


These risks have led to policies in schools that have a zero tolerance stance for children accessing certain content online.  These policies, similar to ones I have come across on school experience, tend to block some websites that the policy makers deem inappropriate.  However, these blocked websites do not reflect the reality of children’s everyday experiences of using the internet for academic and social means (Beauchamp, 2012; Cranmer, Selwyn and Potter, 2009).  Websites I have seen blocked, YouTube, Sparklebox and social websites, have been blocked for different reasons.  Although, these measures at school reduce the risks for children at school, what good are those measures when the children are at home and are free to access any content they wish away from the classroom and its restrictions?  This is why, as Beauchamp argues, that e-safety should not be about restricting children but about educating them in how to deal with these situations if they do arise when unsupervised (Beauchamp, 2012).  This view is echoed by Ofsted (2010) who describe the best practices of e-safety as getting the children to assess the risks of sites they use; this would then lead to the children independently adopting safe practices when accessing the internet.  This means that the children are monitoring their own online experience and know what to do when something goes wrong.


The Byron Review (2007) identified ‘3 C’s of e-safety’ (Byron, 2007: 16) that schools can use to educate children about the different risks associated with being online.  These are content, contact and conduct.  Content regards inappropriate material the children may find online such as adverts, spam, personal information, and misleading information.  Contact relates to the contact of someone online who may wish to abuse or bully the child.  Conduct refers to the activities the child may engage in that may place them in vulnerable situations.  This could include the child being the perpetrator of inappropriate activities including illegal downloading, hacking, gambling, bullying or uploading inappropriate material.  The grid in the Byron Review gives scope and structure to the many and at times overlapping factors that can be deemed as risks for children.


I have come across a collective consensus that children cannot always be guarded and fully shield children from the risks associated with the internet, we can however, educate them to become resilient.  Therefore, the key message when educating children about e-safety is that it is not about preventing children from having fun or from them taking full advantage of the internet that is at their fingertips; but to make sure they do it as safely as possible, giving peace of mind to teachers and parents when children are exploring the internet independently (Byron Review, 2007).  If teachers and parents are able to get this strong message across to children they will be setting themselves up for a safe future whilst still being able to enjoy the varied and rich content available on the internet.


Useful Sources


While researching for this blog I came across numerous websites and articles that I felt were important for educating teachers and parents about raising the awareness of e-safety to children; inside and outside the classroom.


The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) (online) Training and Knowledge Sharing [online] http://ceop.police.uk/Knowledge-Sharing/


Childnet. (online) Know IT All Resources [online] http://www.childnet.com/resources/kia/


DfCSF. (2009) Cyberbullying: Supporting School Staff [online] http://www.digizen.org/downloads/cyberbullying_teachers.pdf


Webwise. (online) Surfwise Educational Programme – teachers handbook [online] http://moodle2-rsc.kent.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=275


References


Becta. (2007) Signposts to safety: Teaching e-safety at Key Stages 1 and 2. London: Becta


Byron, T. (2008) Safer Children in a Digital World: The Report of the Byron Review


The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) (online) Training and Knowledge Sharing [online] http://ceop.police.uk/Knowledge-Sharing/ (accessed 24/03/2014)


Childnet. (online) Know IT All Resources [online] http://www.childnet.com/resources/kia/ (accessed 24/03/2014)


Cranmer, S., Selwyn, N. and Potter, J. (2009) ‘Exploring primary pupils’ experiences and understandings of ‘e-safety’’, Education and Information Technologies, Vol. 14, pp. 127-142


DfCSF. (2009) Cyberbullying: Supporting School Staff [online] http://www.digizen.org/downloads/cyberbullying_teachers.pdf (accessed 25/03/2014)


DfE. (2013) The national curriculum in England: Key stages 1 and 2 framework document. London: DfE


Ofsted. (2010) The safe use of new technologies. Manchester: Ofsted


Webwise. (online) Surfwise Educational Programme – teachers handbook [online] http://moodle2-rsc.kent.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=275 (accessed 26/03/2014)