Mr Coates's
Website
Safe use of the web
"STOP. THINK. CONNECT."
(https://www.staysafeonline.org/stop-think-connect/about/)
The internet is now an integral part of our children's and students lives and society is spending many of their waking hours surfing the web, chatting with friends on social media or playing online video games with freinds. These can all be constructive and fun activites and the internet can provide great benefits for all users. However the internet can also very easily become an unsafe and threatening place. Below we will dicuss some saftey issues surrounding the internet. These include but limited to privacy, cyberbullying or trolling, sexting, cyberstalking and grooming.
Privacy
The internet is a great place were friends and invididuals can share ideas, photos and videos with each other easily and affectivly. What we need to rememeber though is that everything you post online combines to create your make your digital footprint and once something is online it could be there forever so think before you post or upload something online.
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Cybersmart has a great range of tips for kids, teens and adults about privacy while on the internet. As well as interactive games and videos kids can take part in to understand and learn how internet safe smart they are.
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The Staysmartonline website also has great tips for staying safe online as well as interactive game for younger children to teach the importance of online saftey that teachers can use as a resource.
Cyberbullying, Cyberstalking, Trolling
"Cyberbullying is the use of cell phones, instant messaging, e-mail, chat rooms or social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to harass, threaten or intimidate someone."
"http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/cyberbullying"
The Cyberbullying| ReachOut website provides information on what cyberbullying is, how it can effect people, how to protect yourself as well as provide links and numbers to help call lines to get advise and support.
"Cyberstalking is the use of the Internet or other electronic means to stalk or harass an individual, a group, or an organization." Wikipedia, 2015
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The Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria provides information on cyberstalking including what cyberstalking can include and provides links and information on what to do if you believe you are a victim of cyber stalking.
"Trolling is an Internet slang term used to describe any Internet user behavior that is meant to intentionally anger or frustrate someone else" - Knowyourmeme
Netiquette
Netiquette is simply "etiquette in technology governs what conduct is socially acceptable in an online or digital situation." - Wikipedia, 2015
Cybersmart provides kids with information on netiquette. These include
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Treat others the way you want to be treated
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Take care of yourself
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Tell your parents or another adult if you feel uncomfortable, sad or scared about anything you see online.
The website Albion also gives information on neitquetee and goes into more greater detail on the the does and donts of netiquette.
Sexting and Grooming
"Sexting is when sexual photos or videos are shared via mobiles or online posts." (Cybersmart, 2015).'
The Cybersmart website provides informations for both teens and parents on the warning signs of sexting and what to do if a problem arises from it as well as numbers for the Kids Help Line for free and confidential support and advice for teenagers.
What is Grooming?
Netsafe defines grooming as "when a person tries to ‘set up’ and ‘prepare’ another person to be the victim of sexual abuse". The netsafe website also has a huge amount of resources on how to identify grooming, what to do if you think you might be a victom on grooming as what to do if you suspect someone is grooming someone online.
