The New Teachers Times - Flipbook - Page 12
Adopting a forward-thinking
approach to Online Safety
Stella James,
Head Gooseberry,
Gooseberry Planet
are not even checking what these apps
entail. Young girls (8/9 year olds) are
left on their own to manage this and are
being groomed. I have been into so many
schools and been told of so many
incidents of girls on these apps.
Why are we allowing our children to
There is a new challenge for our
manage their own privacy settings, which
generation and we don’t have the easy
are more often than not left in ‘default’
templates that we grew up with. We
mode, leaving them vulnerable to
teach our children to swim because one
exploitation? Sometimes I feel like
day it might well save their lives, but
shouting at parents to “get a grip, be a
online we tend to put our heads in the
parent, stop making excuses. Sit
sand and forget any type of
It is
with your child and learn and
parenting skills. And yet, the
all very well
explore the online world
talking about
risks are just as great and the
together, in the same way we
“stranger danger”,
solution, no different – we
all sit and read with them”.
but what does
have to teach our children the
that mean
Teaching children about risks
skills to survive in this new
online?
online could potentially save their
online environment.
innocence or even save their life.
Are we in denial and think it will never
It is all very well talking about “stranger
happen to our child? It appears that we
danger”, but what does that mean online?
are. The scary statistics are that 71% of
Children don’t even use that term; the
5/6 year olds now have a device in their
adults created it. The same with
bedroom, 4 in 10 primary school children
"sexting” and “cyber bullying”. At least if
now have their own mobile phone and
we are going to teach this subject, let’s
are using them with very little or no
use their language. Let’s use “people
guidance from their parents. With new
online”, “sexy or flirty texts”.
apps such as Music.ly or Live.ly, parents