Preparing Children For Life Online

I often talk to young people and adults about their real-life behaviour and online behaviour, trying to get them to make a connection between the two. This is something many find difficult to do and will open themselves up to online risks that they would not do offline…

Online Safety Videos For Children & Young People

Preparing Children For Life Online

Aug 1, 2017Teacher Briefings

I often talk to young people and adults about their real-life behaviour and online behaviour trying to get them to make a connection between the two. This is something many find difficult to do and will open themselves up to online risks that they would not do offline.

Think about when we buy a child their new bike we spend time researching the right bike, ensure it has all the safety features we need and it’s the right one for the child. We buy them a helmet, stabilizers, maybe even a bell and knee pads. Next we find a quiet place to learn how to ride it safely and when we feel they’re ready for the next step, we take off the stabilizers, hold them steady and only let them go when we feel they’re safe and secure.  Then for years to come we set rules and monitor them to ensure that they’re safe. Perhaps even signing them up for a cycling course…

Let’s compare this to what the majority of us do when we buy our children a new iPad. We may help them open the packaging; even let them show us how to turn it on; but then most of us will leave them on the couch to start exploring the online world and access all their favourite games and sites on their own.

How often do we check in with them see what they’re watching ?

How many of us set up the parental controls and download child-friendly search engines ?

And how many of us actually check who they’re talking to and perhaps feel reassured when they tell us that they’re only communicating with people who are their friends even though they, and us, have never met these people.

This is like buying them the new bike with no safety features and setting them off for their first outing on the M6!

Something we would just never do but we do on the online world.

Young people are excited about the online world and want to explore everything it has to offer so let’s ensure that they do it as safely as possible.

For more information visit www.eaware.co.uk

Dr Melanie Ackers

Educational Psychologist
eAWARE

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