e-Safety in Schools

Childnet International are currently running the Youth IGF Project to capture the voice of children and young people to take to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) a UN mandated meeting in the Autumn. The IGF is a four day international gathering that gives governments, the internet industry, organisations and individuals the space to debate what should happen to the Internet in the coming years thinking specifically about Access, Openness, Diversity and Security.

Historically the IGF has had little or no input from young people. Childnet's Youth IGF Project aims to capture the voice of young people so that they can be represented at the forum in November. To reach the widest possible audience in a short space of time, Childnet have created Primary and Secondary project packs for schools who want to get involved in the project and would welcome as wide participation as possible.  They have also created a film to support the secondary lessons.  This can be viewed and downloaded from our Youth IGF Project YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/YouthIGFProject )

All schools returning survey material will be entered into a free prize draw for a free e-safety session to be held in January 2010. Youth responses that particularly stand out will be featured in a video to be presented in Egypt and young people may also be asked to consider contributing to discussions in Parliament on this topic.

 The project packs contain lesson plans and instructions for running lessons - and are a perfect afternoon activity in the run-up to the end of term.

 We hope that many Schools will engage in this project and Ellen (ellen@childnet.com) and Lucinda (lucinda@childnet.com ) in the Childnet office or the e-Safety officer (esafetyofficer@kent.gov.uk) will be happy to answer any further questions.

The Children's Charities Coalition on Internet Safety (CHIS) has launched its "Digital Manifesto", which it is sending to all the political parties represented in the Westminster Parliament, the Scottish Parliament and the Assemblies in Northern Ireland and Wales. The manifesto asks the parties to commit themselves to supporting the policies and recommendations which the children's charities have made in the document and indicates that details of all responses received will be published.

The document contains many insightful ideas which make recommendations for government around issues such as child abuse images, policies, the use of mobile internet technologies, social networking, support for professionals and ideas for future developments. The manifesto was written by John Carr, from UKCCIS and the Sectary of CHIS and Dr Zoe Hilton, Policy advisor on Child Protection for the NSPCC. It strongly supports the recommendations made in 2008 Byron Review such as "Reducing availability, "Restricting access" and "Increasing Resilience"

To view the manifesto itself, and other CHIS documents/consultations view here

 

The EU Kids Online Final report (Sonia Livingstone and Leslie Haddon) has been released.  The report offers a balanced picture of issues in e-safety and promoting online opportunity for young people across Europe.

 The EU Kids Online project (2006-2009) examines European research on cultural, contextual and risk issues in children's safe use of the internet and new media across 21 countries. It is funded by Safer Internet plus Programme).

 You can find the final report here: http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/EUKidsOnline/

 The site also includes second editions of What do we know about Children's Use of Online Technologies? A Report on Data Availability and Research Gaps in Europe and  Comparing Children's Online Opportunities and Risks across Europe: Cross-national Comparisons for EU Kids Online

On 12 March, Lord Laming published his report The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report. The Government accepted all of his recommendations and has now published an action plan, setting out its detailed response.

Schools should be aware of Ofsted's response to both Lord Laming's inquiry and to Sir Roger Singleton's report Keeping Our Children Safe, a review of safeguarding arrangements in independent schools, non-maintained special schools and boarding schools in England.

The Laming inquiry made recommendations that have direct implications for Ofsted: "Recommendation 10: Ofsted should revise the inspection and improvement regime for schools giving greater prominence to how well schools are fulfilling their responsibilities for child protection"

As a result of this Ofsted have accepted the recommendation and will be making revisions to their inspection framework for schools. The new school inspection framework which will apply from September 2009  will have a stronger focus on safeguarding. The current inspection framework already includes a judgement about whether safeguarding arrangements in schools are satisfactory but this will be strengthened in the new framework with a grading on a scale from 1(outstanding) to 4(inadequate) for a school's safeguarding arrangements.

Ofsted have also designed that any school which receives a grade of 4 will be likely to be awarded an inadequate grade for its overall performance and will need therefore to make urgent improvements. These arrangements will hopefully 'raise the bar' about the importance of safeguarding in schools and will also facilitate the identification and dissemination of best practice.

The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families has written to schools to highlight the importance of this action plan and of the role that teachers and other staff have in keeping children safe from abuse but it is important that all schools are aware that e-Safety is considered under the Safeguarding umbrella and therefore schools must have policies and procedures in place to ensure they are able to meet the aims of the new framework when it is released. More information will be posted as soon as the new framework is released

To read the full response from Ofsted click here 

For more advice and information click here

Beatbullying is asking every every person in the UK, young people and adults, to stand up at 10am on Thursday 14 May, as a national sign of defiance against bullying and cyberbullying and in solidarity with the millions of young people being bullied and cyberbullied.

 A free lesson plan and worksheet, along with other information, is available on the Beatbullying website. Schools can also sign up to take part, and can purchase stickers highlighting Cybermentors, a website for children and young people who have been bullied or cyberbullied.  

 

The Internet Watch Foundation reports that the number of websites showing and selling images of child abuse has fallen by 10%  in the last 12 months.

"These websites, although reducing in number, represent an extremely serious problem," said Peter Robbins, chief executive of the IWF.

Of the 1,536 unique domains known to the IWF as hosting images of child abuse, 74% were run for profit. The remaining sites were places abusers shared or swapped images.

In its report, the IWF said: "1,536 domains represent a problem of a scale which can be seriously targeted and significantly disrupted through international efforts." It said that about 69% of the children depicted in the images it saw were between zero and 10. About 24% involved children aged six or under. About 58% of the images seen showed the most serious sorts of abuse - involving *** or torture.

The IWF has said it and its international partners would target these key domain sellers in the next year to get abuse sites delisted and removed from the net.

The report also noted the increasing sophistication of the methods used by site owners to escape detection and avoid being shut down. Many sites scramble domain names, hide payment systems and split images across sub-domains or remote servers to evade law enforcement agencies.

To read the full report click here

A new resource from Childnet International is now available:  Know IT All for Primary Schools. This  resource has been produced specifically for the primary sector with support from Becta, the TDA and the UK Council for Child Internet Safety; KIA for Primary Schools aims to engage with primary aged children and all those working with them.

The resource has 2 main components:

1) A DVD for children with a film animation, 'The adventures of Kara, Winston and the SMART crew'. The five episodes feature the latest technologies, updated e-safety advice and seek to empower all children to make good decisions online. The resource has been designed so that as many children as possible can get the most out of it. There are optional subtitles, a BSL version of the SMART rules, the SMART rules in Widgit Symbols, and the animation will soon be made available in Clicker (an inclusive writing and multimedia tool, which offers curriculum access and a high level of support for children with a range of diverse needs).

 2) A Selection of Video tutorials for school staff form the content of the second resource, a CD ROM made up of 5 chapters designed to support the development of effective e-safety knowledge, policies and practice. We all know how important it is for everyone to have the opportunity to really understand the importance of internet safety and these tutorials seek to educate and provide useful links for schools looking to build on their internet safety provision.

This resource is available to order from The DCSF for FREE, (Tel 0845 60 222 60 Reference number: 00321 - 2009CDO - EN) Or alternatively you can view the content online here www.childnet.com/kia/primary

On the 15th April, 2009 Childnet International and the DCFS launched new guidance on Cyberbullying in relation to ‘Supporting School Staff'. This new document builds on the 2007 Safe to Learn Cyberbullying guidance, and provides advice for employers of school staff - Local Authorities and governing bodies. It also offers advice for school staff about keeping themselves and their personal information safe. This important advice was written in consultation with the DCSF Cyberbullying Taskforce, and with the support of the leading school employee unions and professional associations.

"Every individual has a right to be respected at their place of employment and bullying of any kind is a violation of that right, so I hope that this guidance is used by all staff members and schools to prevent cyberbullying of staff and reduce the harm and hurt it can cause.

Bullying of any kind is harmful and, as it evolves alongside technological advances we see new forms, such as cyberbullying, making their mark. I know children are not the only victims of this humiliating form of bullying, school staff are too. That is why this guidance has been produced specifically to help and support school staff tackle cyberbullying. It provides straightforward advice and will help school staff know their rights and the powers they and schools have to deal with cyberbullying"  Ed Balls MP, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families

This new Guidance adds to a range of other resources Childnet have produced for schools to help tackle cyberbullying, including the Let's Fight It Together DVD, the Digizen Interactive Programme, the "Safe to Learn - Cyberbullying" guidance, and the summary document - "Cyberbullying: A whole-school community approach".

The new guidance and Childnet's Cyberbullying resources can be found here

This new guidance comes after a recent survey by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) and the Teacher Support Network which found that one in seven teachers say they have been bullied by pupils and colleagues through text messages, emails and social networking sites and almost one in five teachers said they knew of colleagues who had become victims.

The survey of 539 school and college staff found that of those who had suffered cyberbullying personally, 63% had received unwelcome emails, 26% had offensive messages posted about them on social networking sites, and 28% were sent unwelcome text messages.

Most of the reported cyberbullying - 44% - was done by pupils, but 28% of staff said a manager or colleague was behind it. The survey also highlighted the effect cyberbullying has on its victims, with 39% saying their confidence fell, 25% saying it made them a less effective teacher and 6% saying they were forced to take sick leave because of resulting illness or stress. Nearly two thirds (62%) were not aware of any cyberbullying policy at their school.

The majority of parents say that they don't know as much about their child's day at school as they would like too, according to the "Oh, Nothing Much report" commissioned by Becta to support its Next Generation Learning campaign.

The survey of 1,000 children aged between 7 and 14 years and 1,000 parents in the UK, reveals that 43% of parents admit they find it difficult or very difficult to extract information from their child about their day at school.

 Other important findings of the report include:

• A third of parents feel excluded by their children
• Only 16% of children proactively talk about their school day
• Children admit they want to keep ‘hassling' parents away from school life
• 82% of parents want schools to keep them better informed

However, parents are not alone in dealing with this communication challenge: almost half of children (44%) don't like sharing information with their parents; they like to keep their school day private, and over a third (37%) of children say they find it quite or very difficult to speak to their parents about their education.

As part of the "Oh, nothing much" area of the Next Generation Learning website Dr Tanya Byron (author of 2008 Byron Report) is writing a blog to share insights from Becta's research into how parents and their children discuss learning. Topics will include practical parenting tips on how to maximise communication with their children exploring uses of technology at home and in the classroom and how parents can get more involved with their child's education and have fun along the way! For more information visit Tanya's blog here

Parents and Educators can also follow the Next generation learning site here on Twitter

A girl in America saw a suicidal comment from a UK boy on her Facebook friends list, and within three hours he was found and taken to the hospital for treatment, The Daily Mail reports here

Shortly before 11.30pm on the1st April, the 16-year-old boy wrote: ‘I'm going away to do something I've been thinking about for a while then everyone will find out'." His friend knew the school he went to but not his address, so she told her parents, who contacted the British Embassy in Washington. The local Police had just a name to go on but narrowed the search to eight addresses. Officers were dispatched to each location, and three hours after the boy had filed his Facebook message, he was found at home " conscious but suffering the effects of a drug overdose." He has since been released from the hospital and "is recovering at home".

Thames Valley Chief Superintendent Brendan O’Dowda praised the tenacity of those involved on both sides of the Atlantic. ‘It took up time and effort but it was time and effort absolutely well spent’ he said.

This story reflects what the US's National Suicide Prevention Lifeline said in 2007, that peers are often the first to know when a teen is in trouble, so social networking sites can be a vital source of referrals to hotlines.

Connect Safely have launched some top tips to protect teens from ‘Sexting' which can be found here

The advice is aimed at both parents and teen and looks at the legalities, effects and consequences sexting can have both now and on young people's futures.

The advice is based on research - conversations with police, prosecutors, and legal scholars from across America and although the advice is aimed at a US market the advice is useful and applicable here in the UK.

This follows a recent story from America which can be used to illustrate how the law applies to more than still photos on phones. Police in Massachusetts, America are "investigating charges" against three teenagers who allegedly recorded video of themselves engaging in sexual activity and then distributed the video to junior high (primary) students. WCBV TV Boston reported the story here.  In addition to the child-pornography charges, statutory *** and wiretapping charges are also being considered (the latter, if audio was involved).

"Police said the video was taken at a home, not at the school. The alleged victim, a girl under 16, told them she did not realize she was being captured on cell phone. She went to police with her parents when she realized the video was circulating," WCBV added.

On March 26th 2009 Children's Minister Delyth Morgan announced the membership for four groups of professionals tasked with taking forward the work of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS). Formed in September 2008, UKCCIS is a forum of over 100 stakeholders to take forward the recommendations made in 2008's Byron Review.

 Children's Minister, Delyth Morgan said: "Firstly I would like to thank the chairs for heading up the groups who will drive forward this Government's commitment to implementing the recommendations of Professor Byron's review. I am also grateful to the many stakeholders who have offered their services free of charge to take forward the work of each group.These groups will enable us to swiftly carry forward the work urgently needed to ensure children and young people are rightfully protected from harmful material contained within new technologies and media."

The working groups are as follows:

Industry standards: Chaired by Amanda Jordan, Chair and co-founder, Corporate Citizenship

Aim: To develop clearer common standards (in the form of codes of practice or other guidelines) that are adopted, monitored and consistent with EU partners and are widely recognised as good practice.

Better education: Chaired by Niel McLean, Executive Director, Becta

Aim: To ensure that children, families and the children's workforce have access to consistent and comprehensive support and information that improves their knowledge, skills and understanding of internet safety.

Video games: Chaired by Brian Leonard, Retired Director at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, previous roles included responsibility for the Byron Review

Aim: To ensure that children and young people have a safer gaming experience and parents are aware of the issues, and support mechanisms around gaming.

Public information and awareness: Chaired by Clive Michel, Head of Communications and Public Awareness, Child Exploitation & Online Protection (CEOP)

Aim: To develop a comprehensive and joined-up public awareness campaign on internet safety for children and families based on consistent messages which forms the basis of the one stop shop for all aspects of internet safety.

 

The launch of these groups will build on the work developed since the launch of the council to deliver on the recommendations in the Byron Review. These include:

• the development of the Know IT All e-safety resource for primary teachers with TDA and Becta;

• an assessment by Trading Standards on the enforcement of the existing law on underage games sales;

• research to ‘map’ the public’s online behaviour in terms of identifying sources of online safety advice that will support the establishment of a ‘one stop shop’;

• and providing in kind and financial support to CEOP in promoting Safer Internet Day 2009.

 

Further details on the above groups and the work of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety including regular newsletters on progress can be found at http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/ukccis/

The European Commission has set out plans to tighten EU law to protect children from online abuse. Announced by European Commission Vice President Jacques Barrot in charge of Justice, Freedom and Security, the proposals are aimed at replacing two existing legislations which took effect in 2004 and 2002 respectively

 Vice President Barrot said: "We want to build an EU that is truly able to protect the most vulnerable citizens against the most terrible crimes. When we say trafficking in human beings we are talking about women and girls reduced to sexual slavery, children beaten and mistreated, forced to beg and to steal, young adults compelled to work in appalling conditions for hunger wages. When we speak about child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation, we are speaking about horrendous crimes against children that leave deep scars and suffering for their whole lives."

 The proposals, which have yet to be adopted by the 27 member states, would unify approaches to online grooming and the viewing of child pornography across the EU. So called "Sex tourists" from EU states who abused children outside the EU would also face prosecution on their return home and would include new EU rules to curb people-trafficking. Currently under UK law, British nationals who commit sex offences against children abroad can already be prosecuted in the UK, even if their actions were legal in the country they visited.

 Under the new proposals on child sexual abuse, offenders will be imprisoned for at least six years instead of one year at present. Offenses in aggravating circumstances will get 10 years instead of five years. Sexual abuses that may endanger the life of children will get 12-year sentences.   The proposal will also remove the time limit within which child sexual abuse offenses must be denounced, making prosecution easier and those convicted will have their offenses in their criminal records so that they will not be able to find jobs involving direct contacts with children, even in other EU member states.

 The commission says that in 2008 more than 1,000 commercial and about 500 non-commercial websites depicting child sex abuse were found - 71% of them in the US and the majority of the  non-commercial sites were peer-to-peer services. CEOP will lead the work of the European Financial Coalition said that up to 300 commercial child abuse websites were available at any one time and earnt well in excess of €30m (£26.8m) a year. CEOP processed 1.6m images in the past year alone and identified and rescued 50 children.

 If adopted, the new proposals would mean free legal services for victims of abuse and authorities in the EU could bring people traffickers and "sex tourists" to justice even if they committed their crimes outside the EU.

 The proposals will be discussed in the EU Council of Ministers and will be translated into national legislations once approved.

 "Our message is clear...Europe will continue to set the highest and most ambitious standards in fighting them," Barrot said.

90 young people in UK "have been cautioned as a result of posting sexual material of themselves or their underage friends online or on their mobile phones," the Daily Mail reports. 

This phenomena known as "Sexting" is becoming increasingly commonplace with children and young people.. The accessibility of adult content online means that children as young as 8 are being exposed to (often) hard-core pornography online from their own homes. However for some young people this is taken a step further with them actually creating their films or posting provocative images online.

Whilst undertaking a report into Online Pornography for  BBC Radio 4,  Penny Marshall spent time working with young people to find out their views where she began to find out more about "sexting" and how children are creating these images and posting online such as in social networking and video sharing sites. The full article can be read here

 In the past year, there have been at least two cases in the UK where police have been called into schools after footage of pupils performing sex acts has been discovered on their phones; one involved children  as young as 13.

 'What some of today's youngsters are doing is, by any civilised, contemporary standards, obscene,' says John Carr of the UK's Children's Charities' Coalition on Internet Safety.  'It also happens to be illegal. It's a genuinely new problem which is the result of the emergence of new technology together with an increasing cultural tolerance of pornography. It's horrifying, and we are only now becoming aware of the full extent of the problem. Publishing any photograph of a child - that's anyone under 18 - which is of a sexual nature is illegal. So children who put pornographic photographs of themselves online or share the material via their mobile phones are, technically, breaking the law.'

The story of Jessie Logan, can show young people the devastating effects this can have on their lives. Jessie, 18 posted nude photos of herself to her 19 year old boyfriend, when they split up those images were forwarded and Jessie was bullied (both online and offline) before eventually hanging herself.

John Carr says young people who behave inappropriately or obscenely and post their material online could do lasting and irreversible damage to their future chances of success.

'Children feel invincible online. They believe the material they are producing is private. But they are wrong on both counts. We've had documented accounts of employers, and universities and colleges, trawling the net looking for information about prospective candidates. This behaviour can have long lasting effects. What goes online stays online - for ever.'

Dr Tanya Byron - author of the 2008 Byron Review into child safety on the Web and when using videogames - has stated that the  risk-averse society we are currently living in is keeping children cooped up at home on a "global playground" called the Internet, where they can be at greater risk than if allowed out more, The Telegraph reports.

Speaking at the annual gathering of Britain's Teenage Magazine Arbitration Panel, "the industry body that regulates sexual content in publications for young people,"  Dr Byron suggests that adults need not only to understand the potential risks but the nature of the playground itself, how - if parts of it have curfews/watersheds or are deemed off-limits to young people - they could simply move on to other more risky areas.

Dr Byron said that many adults had responded to her review by suggesting that the Internet should be shut down completely, or that a 'watershed' must be imposed so that children cannot access it after 9pm and so on - showing their failure to understand the internet itself and it's benefits. Instead she said parents and teachers "should learn more about what young people are doing online."

You can listen to Dr Byron speaking - as a parent, psychologist, and researcher - at the Oxford Internet Institute, "Beyond Byron: Towards a New Culture of Responsibility"

 

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) contains pages for young people , aimed at helping them to protect personal information and consider what they are posting online.

http://www.ico.gov.uk/youth.aspx

 The website aims to encourage teenagers to think about what information they are posting online to sites such as Social Networking profiles etc, what to do if information is incorrect or you are a victim of Identity theft and what rights the Data Protection Act can give us.

Currently the site considered Social networking sites and Exam results and links to useful resources and ways the ICO can help.

Information for adults can be found here

 

 

New websites and support have been launched this month with the aim of supporting the increasing numbers of young people experiencing Cyberbullying.

One in five 11-16 year olds in the UK say they have experienced cyberbullying and three quarters say they don't feel that there is appropriate support for victims.

Cybermentors

Cybermentors is a Beatbullying project and is all about young people helping each other online. Currently over 700 volunteers have attended special training (including child protection awareness) to become an online mentor to another young person experiencing bullying. Young people can use the cybermentors site for advice and support via email or chat. Alice, 13 is one such voulnteer from Kent, you can read her story here

Many schools in Kent are beginning to offer support and training to pupils and the e-Safety officer is working with BeatBullying to promote and offer this service to more schools.

For more information please visit www.cybermentors.org.uk/  or contact the e-Safety Officer

Txt Up

Txt Up: Stand up  is a new website and text message service which offers tips on beating the bullies, submitted by young people who have been through the same experience. Teens can give advice via text message or directly at www.textup.co.uk/. Visitors can then vote on their favourite tips, and the most useful are distributed monthly via a text message service which young people can sign up to receive by texting ‘txtup' to 82120.

British parents are under-estimating how much time their children spend on the net and what they are doing online according to a new report by Symantec. The survey questioned over 9,000 adults and young people in 12 different countries

The Online Living report found that UK parents believe their children are online for 18.8 hours per week but according to young people, the true figure is 43.5 hours.

The report suggests that British parents were among those with the worst grasp of how long their children are online and that 20% of the 6,427 UK adults questioned had caught their children looking at unsuitable net sites. 81% of UK parents said they were confident that they knew what they children were looking at online but in contrast, 31% of children said their parents did not know what they were doing online. Among all the parents questioned, 75% said they talked to their children about staying safe online.

Around the world about one-third of parents are putting software controls, such as filters and parental controls on a family PC/laptop to keep children away from inappropriate content. In the UK the number putting controls on a PC is currently 54% which is higher than the global average of one third.  One-third of the UK children in the survey said they had added their parents as "friends" on a social networking site.

The survey did find that the net is helping to cement the social ties and improve relationships within families and that children and adults feel the benefits of using the internet far outweigh the risks (89% of adults and 90% of children)

"It's not about coming down hard on them when they encounter inappropriate content," said Marian Merritt, Symantec's internet safety advocate "The internet is a great place to learn and to play, but there have to be boundaries."

A new internet Safety book "Who wnts 2 no?" is being launched on the 5^th March 2009 and is available free to all Schools and Libraries across the UK.

The book explores online situations with the "Cybernuts" to help children and young people consider their online activity and how to keep themselves safe online. This book is aimed at children aged 8 to 12 to help promote awareness about internet safety and to also develop key literacy skills.

The book was created with help from children aged 8-12 and in collaboration with Childnet International.

Visit here to order now to help introduce children to the Cybernuts and make their digital adventures safer - and much more fun!

Childnet International has updated its report into Young People Social Networking on the Digizen Site

The project is designed to investigate how social networking services can and are being used to support personalised formal and informal learning by young people in schools and colleges

The report considers what Social networking is; evaluates the different services/sites available and examines the benefits as well as the barriers and risks of using Social Networking in a School environment.

This report is essential reading for any schools or professionals who are considering using social networking in the classroom. The report considers issues such as moderation, age restrictions, privacy settings, sites to consider and risk assessments. The report also includes examples of good practise for establishments to consider should they be considering using social networking with students.

For full details on Social Networking on the Digizen site, click here

For the full report in pdf click here

For an evaluation chart considering the different Social Networking Sites please click here

Please note we urge any schools or establishments considering implementing a project with Social Networking to contact the e-Safety Officer initially. 

Plagiarism is a high-profile issue for schools, particularly issues relating to the internet and coursework.

Netskills have created some resources to support Secondary Achools in raising awareness and in tackling this issue which can be used with staff or students. The materials can be found here

The European Commission has completed a deal with internet companies to help protect children using social networking sites. The agreement was signed at the Safer Internet Day, which was organised by the European Commission as a means of self-regulation by the major online players.

The agreement - which covers sites including Facebook, Bebo, Google, Microsoft, yahoo! MySpace and YouTube - will see a number of safeguards put in place to help protect young people while they are using the web.

Seventeen websites and networks across Europe have agreed to the proposals, and as part of the deal they have promised that there will be significant progress towards implementing the rules by April 2009.

Viviane Reding, the EU commissioner for information society and the media, said that the agreement was an "important step" in the process of making social networking safer for children.

"Social networking has enormous potential to flourish in Europe, to help boost our economy and make society more interactive - as long as children and teenagers have the trust and the right tools to remain safe when making new 'friends' and sharing personal details online".

The social networks have stated they will provide an easy to use and accessible ‘report abuse' button, make sure that full online profiles and contact lists of website users who are registered as under 18s are set to ‘private' by default, users under 18 will not be searchable, develop systems to deal with Cyberbullying and prevent under-age users from using their services.

The agreement will evaluate the success of the plans to stop cyberbullying, grooming and risky behaviour like revealing personal information, in a years time.

These proposals are similar to the social networking guidance  which was issued by the Home Office in Britain in 2008. That agreement - which included a self-regulated code of conduct for social networks operating in the UK - included requirements for visual privacy prompts, and required sites to attempts to remove younger users.

The commission has also launched a new video and  campaign against cyberbullying.

To help promote European Safer Internet day on the 10th February, the North West Learning Grid have created some e-safety games. They are free to use for anyone that wishes to do so and are aimed at Primary and Secondary pupils as well as parents/carers.

Please find them here

 

10 February 2009 is European Safer Internet Day. The main objective of Safer Internet Day (SID) 2009 is to bring together key stakeholders, in as many countries as possible, to raise awareness about safe and responsible use of new technologies especially among children and young people.

We would like as many schools in Kent to highlight this day in their calendars with an event such as a special assembly, a competition or a project.

Schools can download a pack of resources including brand new stand-alone KS2 and KS3/4 assemblies (with Teaching Materials to support them) which have been produced by the Child Expolitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP). These two short (approx 8 minute) films are highlighting the issues of safe Social Networking for Young People and being aware of how information they may have posted online can put them in danger.

CEOP will be signposting all the resources schools will need for SID 2009, including those focused on cyberbullying and other issues on theri ThinkUKnow website.

Please click here to register and CEOP will keep you up-to-date with developments and new ideas. The new assemblies are avaiable in the "Resources" section of the website.

If you are already a registered user of the Thinkuknow website, please login here before  downloading the resources for the Safer Internet Day Assemblies. Please note these resources are only available to schools/teachers registered with CEOP.

Find out more about Safer Internet Day here

 If you or your School are highlighting Safer Internet Day please contact the e-Safety Officer here for support, advice and to share good practice

Websites could potentially be given film/gaming style age-ratings to limit children's access to harmful and offensive materials. Culture Secretary Andy Burnham has said clearer standards need to define what can be displayed online.

Mr Burnham has said the government is looking at a number of possible new internet safeguards and they also plan to negotiate with the USA on drawing up international rules for English language websites. Mr Burnham, states that internet service providers (ISPs) should offer child-friendly web access.

"The internet is becoming a more and more pervasive entity in all our lives and yet the content standards online are not as clear as we've all been used in traditional media. I think we do need to have a debate now about clearer signposting and labelling online because it can be quite a confusing world, particularly for parents who are trying to ensure their children are only accessing appropriate stuff."

He has insisted he is not trying to curb free speech, but wanted to protect the public from "unacceptable" material.  "It's not about banning or stopping people having that freedom of expression," he said. "It's simply about clearer signposting, more information, so people know where they're working."

John Carr, secretary of the UK Children's Charities' Coalition for Internet Safety, said other countries were looking at similar measures.  "Nobody would deny there are enormous practical problems, there isn't a body, an obvious body, that could do this type of classification here in the UK at the moment, but it's definitely an aspiration that many governments across the world are now reaching to."

A poll carried out by the NSPCC in October 2008 suggested three out of four UK children have been disturbed by images they had seen on the internet.

Diana Sutton, head of policy and public affairs at the NSPCC, said "It's one thing to have a political commitment, but it's much harder to actually enforce it, we want these ideas to have teeth. And these mechanisms on their own aren't enough. They've got to be combined with greater parental awareness. Most parents have no clue what their children are up to online. What I think is missing from these proposals is that it's not just about what sites children might see, it's about who they might meet online"

 

Could this idea could potentially lead onto a situation much like that in Australia, which is due to start live trials of ISP-level content filtering? The Australian scheme is costing approximately £55.2  and has met with much uproar from it's citizens, an online poll by a newspaper in Queensland showed that 86% of respondents did not support the scheme.

The Australian project proposes to offer a "clean-feed" web service to all homes, schools and public internet access points in the country. All feed will have two ‘blacklists': one that blocks all illegal material, such as child abuse images; and the second which blocks a list of things deemed unsuitable for children, which will determined by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). Only the latter blacklist will be optional for Australians.

Currently filtering in the UK's is not mandatory by ISPs, they can block sites according to information which is provided by the Internet Watch Foundation.

 

Is such a scheme feasible in today's society?  Is it needed or even manageable? What other options should the Government be considering alongside the idea of ‘cinema' style ratings for websites?

A recent study called “Digital World, Digital Life” conducted by market researcher TNS Global, has revealed that more than half of all adults who first made contact online go on to meet face to face . More than 27,000 participants aged 18 to 55 across 16 countries were interviewed. Of the 2,500 UK web-users that were surveyed, 58 % (6 in 10) said they had met an internet ‘friend’ in person , 45 %  had telephone conversations with friends who were previously just online acquaintances.  "What comes out in this survey is that we are actively engaging with people online, but we haven't lost the knack for conventional social contact. At the same time, online acquaintances are now perceived by most of us as real acquaintances. This is underlined by the high percentages of people who, having first met people online, go on to meet them in person or at least by talking on the phone.  But behind that is the sense of worry among our respondents who clearly express concern about the true online identity of these apparent friends." Arno Hummerston, TNS Global managing director. 

This report echoes statistics for that of young people; CEOP estimate that 1 in 4 young people (11-16) years have met an online friend. 

 Can we still advise young people not to meet online friends when so many adults are doing it themselves? 

Has the time now come for us to educate them how to meet such ‘friends’ safely such as taking an adult they trust with them, meeting in a public place and not giving away personal information etc.

 

For me, the fact people are meeting online friends is not the biggest concern; it's the fact that of those young people who met an online friend only 1/4 of them took someone with them, and of those who did take someone, 83% took a friend and not an adult.  Of the adults questioned in the 'Digital Life, Digital World' survey, only 37%  said they could not be sure of an internet contact's identity. So are we as much at risk as young people?

Google has published its year-end Zeitgeist 2008. It's a tool which reveals what internet users are searching for by studying the aggregation of the billions of search queries that people type into the Google search box.Most popular 10 Searches in the UK (2008)

1. Facebook
2. BBC
3. Youtube
4.  Ebay
5. Games
6. News
7. Hotmail
8. Bebo
9. Yahoo
10. Jobs

10 Fasting rising  UK Searches (2008)

1. iplayer
2. Facebook
3.  iphone
4. Youtube
5. Yahoo mail
6. Large Hadron Collider
7.  Obama
8.  Friv
9. Jogos
10. Wiki

The list also reveals what searches have been popular in different countires and globally. In 2008 this year the US election candidates and the Beijing Olympics figured highly.  Globally the most poular sites are around socialising and politics, according to Marissa Mayer, vice-president of search at Google:"Social networks comprised four out of the top 10 global fastest-rising queries while the US election held everyone's interest around the globe"

10 Fastest rising Global searches

1. Sarah Palin
2. Beijing 2008
3. Facebook login
4. Tuenti
5. Heath Ledger
6. Obama
7. Nasza Klasa
8. wer kennt wen
9. Euro 2008
10. Jonas brothers

 

Youtube has recently announced making changes “ the collective YouTube experience even better”.

The aims of the new ideas from youtube are to ensure users find content that is relevant and appropriate and that inappropriate material is removed quickly.Here’s some of the key ideas they’ve come up with:

• Stricter standard for mature content - videos featuring pornographic images or sex acts are always removed from the site when they're flagged, youtube are reconsidering and “tightening” the standard for what is considered "sexually suggestive." Videos with sexually suggestive (but not prohibited) content will be age-restricted, which means they'll be available only to viewers who are 18 or older – however this does rely on age verification being successful.
• Demotion of sexually suggestive content and profanity - Videos that are considered sexually suggestive, or containing profanity, will be demoted on the 'Most Viewed,' 'Top Favorite,' etc functions. The classification of these videos will be based on a number of factors, including video content and descriptions.
• More accurate video information – Youtube’s Community Guidelines have always tried to stop users from attempting to gain view counts for their videos by entering misleading or inappropriate information in video descriptions, tags, titles, and other metadata. Youtube will be enforcing these rules and violations of these guidelines could result in removal of videos and termination of accounts.

You can read more about this here These changes do raise some questions well worth considering both at a county and a school level ·         Do these new functions mean that we should consider allowing more access to youtube in an educational setting?·         Is youtube an appropriate resource for young people to be using and if so at what age should be consider allowing access to it?·         If we do allow access – what key skills should we be encouraging young people to develop in using youtube as safely as possible?

 

A 3 year long project by American researchers exploring how kids use digital media in their everyday lives has been published as the "Digital Youth Project".

The "Kids' Informal Learning with Digital Media: An Ethnographic Investigation of Innovative Knowledge Cultures" is a three-year collaborative project funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. It has been carried out by researchers at the University of Southern California and University of California, Berkeley.

The team of researchers interviewed over 800 young people and conducted over 5000 hours of online observations as part of one of the most extensive studies into youth media use in the USA. The aim of the Digital Youth Project was to provide an "ethnographical view of how children use social media to socialise, learn and relax".

The researchers explain why young people find these activities compelling and important; the digital world is creating new opportunities for young people to come to grips with social norms, explore their interests, develop key technical skills, and experiment with self-expression. These activities have captured young people's attention because they provide ways to extend their social worlds, self-directed learning, and their independence. Researchers found that social networking, video-sharing sites, online gaming; gadgets such as iPods and mobile phones are now key fixtures of today's youth culture. It shows that today's youth may be coming of age and struggling for autonomy and identity amid new worlds for communication, friendship, play, and self-expression

Today's young people are "always on," they can be in constant contact with friends through ways such as instant messaging, mobile phones, social networking sites . They are developing key skills as they are creating and navigating through new forms of expression and rules for social behaviour. By exploring these new interests, and by "messing around" with media, they are able to gain various forms of technical and media literacy. Through this young people are gaining media skills, such as how to create a video or game, or customize their MySpace page. They then share their ‘creations' and can receive feedback from others online. The digital world lowers barriers to self-directed learning due to its capacity, immediacy and breadth of information.

"They are learning the technological skills and literacy needed for the contemporary world," said the report's author, Dr Mimi Ito.  "They are learning how to communicate online, craft a public identity, create a home page, post links. All these things were regarded as sophisticated 10 years ago but young people today take them for granted"

The report argues against the stereotypical view held by many parents and teachers that internet activity is a waste of time. Contrary to some typical adult perceptions, while hanging out online, young people are picking up basic social and technical skills which they need to fully participate in society. Creating barriers for young people's ability to participate deprives them, of access to these forms of learning - Adults should be facilitating young people's engagement with digital media. "While most parents know very little about what their kids are doing online, they are struggling to give real guidance and help. At the more social 'hanging out' layer, young people don't want their parents or teachers on their MySpace or Facebook page. But in the interest-driven side, there is a more productive role for parents and teachers to play that will help them connect with kids and their lives" says Dr Ito

The researchers also discovered a "digital divide" between those young people who have access to the web and those who do not. "The quality of access is what matters for some kids who have to just rely on the library and school to go online. It is often limited, has blocks put on access to certain sites and is only available when these institutions are open" said Dr Ito.

The MacArthur Foundation's education director, Connie Yowell, concluded that the work creates a new way to look at how young people are being taught. "Learning today is becoming increasingly peer-based and networked, and this is important to consider as we begin to re-imagine education in the 21st century"   

 

Should the suggestions from this report be taken into consideration and should we be changing how we use technology both within the classroom and at home? If such valuable skills are being acquired by today's young people, should we be harnessing this enthusiasm and using it positively?  

However to truly embrace this idea it would mean removing blocks that restrict young peoples access to such sites and that may well be a risk that some would not be willing to take as yet. Are there alternatives to this idea? Is there a "middle ground" where we can feel reassured that young people are safe online and learning and where they can feel independent and supported?

Becta recently commissioned the University of Nottingham in conjunction with London Knowledge Lab and Manchester Metropolitan University to research Web 2.0 technologies for learning at Key Stages 3 and 4. The aims of this research was to help shape Becta's thinking and inform policymakers, schools and local authorities on the potential benefits of Web 2.0 technologies and how their use can be effectively and safely realised.

The 5 reports can be found here.

A report on "e-Safety and Web 2.0" has now been published. This report is focused on e-safety issues relevant to the use of Web 2.0 in education.

The main issue in considering the use of Web 2.0 in School is how to support children to engage in productive and creative social learning whilst also protecting them from the risks. Most learners questioned in the survey were aware of internet dangers, although many demonstrated poor practice such as around password security.

Key pointa:

• E-safety concerns can be a barrier to the adoption of Web 2.0 activity
• Schools have a clear role in educating children for safe and responsible engagement with Web 2.0 and the internet in general. As most learners have access to the internet outside of school, this education is important even if Web 2.0 sites are blocked on the school network.
• Despite a desire from some teachers to explore its benefits for creativity and social learning, they are often constrained by real or perceived limitations set by local authorities and schools
• In an increasingly risk-averse society, where schools and local authorities are vulnerable to legal action, there is a strong incentive to avoid risk to children from internet predators and abusers. This concern was often focused on avoiding the most extreme, but rare cases.
• Parents have concerns about e-safety, but are generally positive about the use of technology to support learning.

The majority of the experts surveyed advocated an ‘empower and manage' approach, in which schools allow children access to public Web 2.0 sites in a supported and structure way. Children should be educated and helped in school to use Web 2.0 activities for responsible and creative learning. Children's web activity should be monitored and action taken against any using threatening behavior or unsafe practices online.

However is this practical in schools? Are any Schools in Kent (or otherwise) actively engaging in Web 2.0 in the classroom?  Should we be moving away from blocking and filtering young peoples access and enabling them develop safe online behaviours and attitudes towards being a responsible online citizen?