INTERNET
SAFETY:
Workshop
Introduction
•
•
•
•
Young people have grown up on-line
Technology plays a very a significant role in yp’s lives
Technologies are constantly changing
Move from passive users to active creators of content
This results in risks as well as opportunities
Youth Work Settings – need to consider our role in
managing these risks through educating and
empowering young people and in our responsibilities
to operate safe practice in our yw settings
Workshop Objectives
• To explore how young people
engage on line
• To become aware of potential risks
• Discuss to address these risks
• To explore resources available
• Q&A
Webwise - About Us
Professional Development Service for
Teachers – Technology in Education
•Agency of Department of Education and Skills
•Co-funded by the EU Safer Internet
Programme
•Irish member of Insafe Network
•Safer Internet Ireland Consortium
Internet embedded in daily life,
users are getting younger



53% use every day or almost daily, 89%
use at least weekly
Girls
61
Boys
61
9-10 yrs
61 minutes spent online in an average
day (see graph)
45
11-12 yrs
53
13-14 yrs
65
15-16 yrs
80
Age matters for daily use:
Low SES
68
33% 9-10 yrs vs. 73% 15-16 yrs

Children first go online at 9 yrs old:
at 7 for 9-10 yrs, at 11 for 15-16 yrs
Medium SES
57
High SES
58
All children
61
0
20
40
60
Minutes per day online
80
100
Mobile access growing
% Handheld device
23% via handheld devices
% Mobile phone but no other handheld device
Girls
52% via mobile and/or handheld
device
24
Boys
22
9-10 yrs
Flexible access is growing
11-12 yrs
18
17
31
23
15-16 yrs
32
38
Low SES
In the top league of European
countries for mobile access
29
13
13-14 yrs
Age and SES matter
29
18
Medium SES
38
23
High SES
27
28
All children
22
23
0
35
29
20
40
60
80
100
Uneven digital skills
8
7
6
5,8
5,4 5,3
5,1
5,0 5,0 5,0 4,9
5
4,8 4,7 4,7
4,7 4,7
4,6
4,5 4,5 4,4
4,2 4,0
4,2
3,8 3,7
4
3,4 3,4 3,3
2,6
3
2
1
0
FI
SI
NL
EE
CZ
SE
NO PT
LT AT
UK
BG
FR DK
PL
ES
BE
DE
IE
CY
EL
HU RO
IT
TR ALL
Multiple opportunities
Watching video clips and playing games are the most popular activities
% Experienced one or more risk factor
More opportunities, more risks
70
Average for
all children
EE
NO
SE
60
DK
FI
50
AT
DE
IE
TR
PL
ES IT
EL
CZ
SI NL
RO
40
LT
BG
BE FR
UK
HU
CY
PT
30
5
6
7
8
Average number of online activities
9
Bullied in Last Year
•Nearly one in four (23%) 9-16 year olds in
Ireland say that someone has acted in a
hurtful or nasty way towards them in the
past 12 months. This is higher than the
figure of one in five or 19% reported for
Europe as a whole.
•Younger children, 9-10 year olds, claim to
be bullied the most (28%), well above the
European average of 17%.
Bullied Other
•14% have also bullied
others in the past twelve
months.
•Bullying others is more
common among 15-16 year
olds (24%) and among boys
(19%).
Risks
• Sharing – digital footprint, easily traced,
information can become public
• Friending – easy to lie, request from
strangers, blocking
• Chatting –not chatting to ‘strangers’,
revealing personal information
• Playing – addiction, bullying, contact with
adults, commercial pressures
Risks
• Pornography – increasingly accessible
• Sexting – sending an inappropriate text or
image to other people
• Unhealthy networking – ie. websites
encouraging unhealthy behaviour
Child Abuse
•
•
•
•
The internet has not created child abuse but
has facilitated;
Networking
Exchange, distribution, collection, and
creation of indecent images
Direct contact with children and grooming
New forms of ‘non contact’ sexual abuse
Internet Safety Strategy
• Technical Solutions
• Acceptable Use Policies
• Education and Awareness Raising
Technical Solutions
•
•
•
•
Virus Control
Spam
Filtering Content
Firewalls
AUP’s & Other Policies
What? - An Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) is a
document, signed by young people and their
parents, guardians or carers, detailing the
ways in which the Internet, mobile phones
and related devices can and cannot be used
in your youth service.
AUP’s & Other Policies
Why? - An agreed policy approach promotes
good practice and safe, responsible use of the
internet. While the web can be a great learning
tool, it also contains some dangerous content
and can be abused. That’s why it’s vital that
youth services establish an AUP which
addresses all rights, privileges, responsibilities
and sanctions associated with computer use. It
also provides a service with legal protection from
liability.
AUP’s & Other Policies
How?
http://www.webwise.ie/WebwiseAUPGuidelines.pdf
Education and Awareness
• Young People
• Youth Work Staff and Volunteers
• Parents
Tips for Young People
• Nothing is private on the internet.
• Don’t share personal or revealing information i.e.
passwords/phone number/address.
• Don’t believe everyone is who they say they are.
• Remember whatever goes on line can be viewed
forever.
• Know your rights and responsibilities when using the
internet.
• Do not open emails from people you don’t know.
• Keep your anti-virus software up to date.
Tips for Young People
• Ignore requests for meeting someone on your own.
• Don’t send someone a photo of yourself particularly if
they ask for a revealing or undressed photo of you.
• Tell someone if you are concerned about anything.
• If you feel something is not right then it probably isn’t.
• Find out what the youth organisation’s AUP is so that
you know how to behave online
Tips for Staff & Volunteers
Supervision
• Supervise yp’s online activity in accordance with your
organisation’s policy.
• Know what level of monitoring you can utilise and
inform the young people and their parents/guardians
how you are monitoring their usage.
• It is not advisable to use personal social networking
profiles to connect with the young people online or as
a way of supervising their activity.
Tips for Staff & Volunteers
Empowering
– Involve young people in writing a code for
the acceptable use of the internet.
– Educate young people on safe use of on
line activities, safety and security settings,
managing profiles.
– Inform and encourage young people on
how to report any concerns
Tips for Staff & Volunteers
Personal Use
• Do not accept friend requests from young
people
• Do not engage in on line communication in a
personal capacity
• Consider what you post on line and who has
access to it
Resources - SpunOut
Demonstration of on-line
engagement with young people
and resources available to
young people and youth
services
Resources
www.webwise.ie
www.spunout.ie
www.youthworkireland.ie
www.barnardos.ie
www.hotline.ie
www.childline.ie
NYCI - websafety.youth.ie (under construction)
Thank You
Olive Ring NYCI olive@nyci.ie
Simon Grehan Webwise sgrehan@pdst.ie
Ian Power SpunOut ian@spunout.ie