Paula O’ Connor (Don’t be mean behind your screen) was in our school last week and spoke to the children in 3rd and 4th class on how to stay safe online. She presented an excellent workshop for our parents last Tuesday the 23rd of October and spoke about the topics below. We were thrilled with the number of parents who attended. Thank you to Ms O’ Malley for organising this training for our children and parents. 

• Online Stranger Danger                                                                                               
• Interacting on-line can be very dangerous for children who are engaging in social networking sites and playing games. Children will learn how to differentiate between real friends and online friends, stressing the importance of keeping personal information private when interacting online.

• On-line Gaming                                                                                                               
• When playing interactive online live games on devices like PlayStation and Xbox, young people will be open to interaction with people they don’t know. We will demonstrate just how easy it is to create an online profile that may not be real, and how easy children can be fooled into trusting a complete stranger because they are immature and out of their debt in some cases.

• Privacy Settings                                                                                                    
• Children should only accept people they know as their friends, and they need to be aware of the importance of having private profiles switched to off.
• Phone Apps/ Social Media– When it comes to internet safety, one important aspect that must be addressed is social media sites, such as Tik Tok, Instagram, Snapchat and WhatsApp. Social media can be a great way for kids t connect with each other but it is also important for everyone involved to be aware of the legalities, the negative effects and the dangers of being on such sites.

• Bullying/Cyberbullying                                                                                            
• Cyberbullying is the deliberate and repeated use of digital technologies, such as cell phones and the internet, to harass, threaten, embarrass, or target another person. It can happen across social media, messaging platforms, online games, and other electronic services and includes actions like spreading false rumors, sharing private information or embarrassing images, sending mean messages, and creating fake accounts.Paula advised parents to develop a plan to record all of the evidence, then use the report, block and tell strategy, telling a trusted adult or school authorities. The role of the bystander in such situations can be very important. The Harmful, Harassment and Communication Related Offences Act 2017’, otherwise known as ‘Coco’s Law’ was signed into Irish Legislation by Michael D. Higgins and it was ratified by the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee and became Law on 9th Feb 2021. Coco’s Law now makes ‘Cyberbullying’ and ‘Online Abuse’ a criminal offence and it carries serious penalties or those who get involved.

• Anonymity
  Parents were reminded that children are never anonymous whilst online, even on sites that pride themselves on anonymity

• Peer pressure/Popularity                                                                                     
• Children just want to belong, to be part of a group, to feel like they fit in, sometimes they take part in tasks or activities they are not comfortable with just be accepted. Young people often see friendship on social media as a competition, the more friends the better and this can be dangerous.

• Social Media/Mental Health                                                                                    
• As brilliant as social media is at keeping us connected, it can also portray false ideas of how amazing or ‘Perfect’ someone else’s life is. 95% of what we see are the ‘highlights’ of people’s lives and then young people often compare their lives based on what they see, striving each and every day to be ‘PERFECT’. Parents should encourage children to realise that there is no such thing as ‘Perfection’ they need to love who they are and not to compare themselves to other people

• ‘Meaningful Digital Consent’                                                                                 
• Every child has the right to decide if they would like their content to be used and shared with others on the world wide web. Meaningful digital consent’ means asking, seeking and receiving permission before posting online content. This will ensure conflict in a young person’s friend group. It’s just always nice to ask before sharing or tagging friends in online content.

• Mistakes/Choices                                                                                                        
• Young people make dozens of decisions on a daily basis. Some online mistakes can last a lifetime on the internet. Parents need to support children to make good choices online, as well as learning from bad ones, in order to help them to deal with online situations and problems as they arise

• Digital Footprint – We must consider their future                                                        
• We are living in an age where everything can be “Googled” and online privacy no longer exists, our young people have a whole new reputation at stake. Children are often unaware of the importance of their ‘digital footprint’, the trail they leave behind online, and how loading inappropriate content can have such a negative effect on their education, future and career.