Parents urged to keep children e-safe

Release Date:  06-Feb-2009

Bristol parents are being offered the chance to find out how to keep their children safe on-line at a series of free, up-to-date training sessions to mark Safer Internet Day, (10 February).

Organised by Bristol Safeguarding Children Board, the South West Grid for Learning and Avon and Somerset Constabulary, the workshops focus on educating parents about the possible risks children and young people face on-line and how they can help them deal with them.

Councillor Peter Hammond, Deputy Leader of Bristol City Council and Cabinet Member for Cohesion and Raising Achievement, said: “Children's knowledge of new technology is often way ahead of their parents, which makes it hard for parents to understand the best way to protect them. These sessions encourage parents to work with their children, to understand what they are doing and help them to be more 'e-savvy'.”

Educating children and parents

David Wright, the E-safety officer for the South West Grid for Learning, said: “Our approach is not about blocking access, but about educating children and parents so they understand the possible risks and how to avoid getting into trouble.

Children are often far more confident using the internet than their parents and this can result in unsafe use by young people - it may be accessing material that is inappropriate or, in the extreme, downright illegal. Children may be at risk from unsupervised online conversations where not everyone they contact is who they seem to be. They may be downloading or sharing music, or video, that could result in action being taken against them by the music or video industries. As they get older, children and young people can actually contribute to the risks themselves as a result of what they post online. They can also be at risk of online bullying.”

Avon and Somerset Constabulary Harm Reduction Officer, PC Alan Earl, said: "Children often fail to recognise the dangers of the internet. This programme enables parents to recognise potential pitfalls and help their children stay safe online.

“Avon and Somerset Police look forward to joining the South West Grid for Learning and the Local Safeguarding Board in their efforts to bring e-safety knowledge to parents."

Spreading the e-safety message

The e-safety message will be taken across Bristol at a series of events on 10 February. These include a display in the Galleries shopping centre, school assemblies, letters to parents through schools and street teams delivering fliers to young people.

The free training sessions for parents will be held at schools in Bristol over the next couple of months, with the first session taking place at Monks Park School in Horfield, on Wednesday 25 March.

For details of sessions, click on the link at the bottom of the page.

Golden Rules' for safe use of the internet include:

Ground rules

• keep information private - think, would I tell this to a stranger?
• agree rules about meeting online ‘friends’ in real life
• generally - if not acceptable in real life it shouldn’t be acceptable on line

Online safety

• anti-virus and parental monitoring systems
• online safety guides
• activate security and privacy settings

Location

• internet access should be in a family room, rather than a bedroom
• be aware that devices such as gaming consoles or mobile phones can access the internet or via a neighbour’s wireless network

Dialogue

• share the experience
• get your children to teach you - this is better than any course you can go on
• ensure they are happy to talk to you if they have a problem or feel uncomfortable

Author:   Katharine de Lisle 0117 922 2732

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