Children now use ICT at an even-younger age; meaning primary teachers
must take into account e-safety within the primary curriculum (BECTA, 2007). This
blog will discuss the issues related to e-safety and recognise how teachers can
address these.
Children are increasingly referred to as ‘digital natives’
(Prensky, 2001). Consequently, this means children have increased confidence in
using technology, yet they may lack the knowledge and awareness of its risks
and dangers (BECTA, 2007; and Prensky, 2001). Therefore, children must be
taught how to use technology responsibly (Byron, 2008; and DfE, 2013). Thus, “schools
have a duty to help children and young people remain safe when online, whether
that use of the internet occurs inside or outside school” (BECTA, 2007:2). Teachers
should teach e-safety explicitly to children and schools should be responsible
for identifying home-school links to support parents in ensuring e-safety at
home (Byron, 2008).
With the creation of Web 2.0
technologies, children are no longer passive viewers of information; they are also
creators (BECTA, 2007). This means that children can now communicate with
others online. Both the Byron Review and UK Children Go Online study found that
almost half of the children they questioned said they had given out personal information
to strangers over the internet (Byron, 2008; and Livingstone and Bober, 2005). Byron (2008) next found that only 5% of these
children’s parents were aware of this. This proves that not only children are
putting themselves in danger, but most parents are unaware (Palmer, 2006; and
Byron, 2008). There are many resources
teachers could use to support e-safety lessons. For example, KidSMART (online) is
a website highly recommended for its classroom activities and lesson plans
suitable for children ages 3-11. This website could also be used to approach the
second issue of parental awareness because it has guides teaching parents how
to approach different e-safety concerns (Byron, 2008; and Palmer, 2006).
Another issue identified in the Byron
Review (Byron, 2008) was that children are increasingly using technology; as a
result they have easy access to inappropriate material (Ofcom, 2012). To address
this problem teachers need to have strong home-school partnerships and provide
parents with supporting material on how they can control children’s viewing of inappropriate
websites and downloading applications onto devises such as iPads (KidSMART,
online). The introduction of Web 2.0
technologies has also introduced the risk of cyber-bullying (Byron, 2008). To tackle
this issue, some schools are now introducing ‘cyber bullying’ into ‘anti-bullying
week’ programmes (Anti-bullying week, online). Schools are also including
topics which concern cyber-bullying within their circle time and PSHE
activities to further teach why it is wrong and what they should do if it
happens to them or someone they know (ChildNet, online; and PSHE Association,
online).
By researching the issues of children’s
internet safety and considering how teachers can address e-safety in the
primary school, I will now be able to implement this into future practice. This
blog post has also enabled me to provide evidence towards the part 2 teaching
standard of safeguarding children.
Bibliography:
Anti-bullying week (online) Anti-bullying week. Avaliable at: http://www.antibullyingweek.co.uk/
(Accessed: 07/03/2014).
BECTA. (2007) Signposts to safety: Teaching e-safety at Key stages 1 and 2. Coventry:
Becta.
Byron, T. (2008) Safer Children in a Digital World: The Report of the Byron Review. Nottingham:
DCSF.
ChildNet. (online) Cyber-Bullying. Available at: http://www.childnet.com/teachers-and-professionals/for-working-with-young-people/hot-topics/cyberbullying
(Accessed: 07/03/2014).
DfE. (2013) The National
Curriculum. In Scholastic (Ed.) The National Curriculum in England: Handbook
for Primary Teachers Key stages 1 & 2. Oxfordshire. Scholastic.
KidSMART. (Online) KidSMART. Available at: http://www.kidsmart.org.uk/
(Accessed: 06/03/2014).
Livingstone, S., and Bober,
M. (2005) UK children go online.
London School of Economics and Political Science.
Ofcom
(2012) Children and Parents: Media
Use and Attitudes Report. London: Ofcom.
Palmer, S.
(2006) Toxic Childhood: How the Modern
World is Damaging Our Children and What We Can Do About it. London: Orion
Books. Chapter 9.
Prensky, M.
(2001) ‘Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Part II: Do They Really Think
Differently?’ On the Horizon. NCB
University Press, 9 (6).
PSHE
Association (Online) Personal Social
Health and Economic Education. Available at: http://www.pshe-association.org.uk/
(Accessed: 07/03/2014).
Within my blog entry I have also looked at e-safety and therefore I agree with the points you make in your blog as it is essential that children are taught about internet safety. I was very surprised to read that children give out their personal information to strangers and that many parents were unaware of this. This therefore shows that teaching children about e-safety is vital as it is very easy for children to put themselves in dangerous situations which they may not be aware of.
ReplyDeleteI have also mentioned in my blog entry that children have easy access to technology and the internet therefore it is inevitable that they could come across inappropriate content. Therefore, I think it is important that we not only teach children about how to stay safe online but also teach them about what to do and who to talk to if they come across anything inappropriate.
I agree with your point that as children are growing up in a digital world, they are using ICT more and more and can be exposed to many potential risks and dangers online. Therefore, I agree that it is important that teachers and schools use explicit teaching of internet safety to make children aware of the dangers online, so that they can use the internet more safely. I was surprised to read that most parents are unaware of the dangers that children can be exposed to whilst using the internet, therefore, I agree that parental awareness of internet safety is an important aspect in reducing the risks of dangerous behaviours online.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I would also like to mention that just because there are many risks when using the internet, that need to be reduced, the internet still provides many learning and creative opportunities for children. The Internet Advisory Board (Undated) states that the internet provides ways for children to develop their communication skills, be creative, and find out more about the world and the things they are interested in.
Internet Advisory Board (Undated) ‘A parent’s guide to social networking websites: Get With It’ by Society, Information and Media (SIM) research centre, [ONLINE] Accessed, 27/03/2013.
I agree E-Safety should not be seen as a barrier to learning it should be taught to children so they can recognise the risks and know what to do if the situation arises.
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