Keeping Children Safe Online

INTRODUCTION

IEARN works hard to maintain a safe space for youth to collaborate with its password-protected online forums. However, all of us involved in working with children on the Internet need to be vigilant and be aware of the online dangers for children. Sadly, in other places on the WWW, children have been hurt by exposure to illegal content, inappropriate contact in chat rooms and e-mail, and there are increasing concerns about childrenís invasive of privacy through excessive commercialism on the web. IEARN is therefore encouraging all participants in IEARN to be aware of the dangers and ensure that the children in their care follow simple steps which can help them to stay safe online.

The guide has been produced for IEARN by Childnet International, a non-profit organisation which works with others around the world to help make the Internet a safe and great place for children. The organisation has produced a number of important safety resources see www.childnet-int.org

There is a challenge in producing a set of guidelines for safe use of the Internet as there are tremendous cultural differences and a range of ìbest practiceî guidelines, some of which are specific to local legal frameworks or local school policies. However, the following 7 points simply highlight the main issues which you should consider carefully. If you would like further advice or clarification please feel free to contact Childnet.

ISSUES TO CONSIDER

‰ Be careful about the way in which children are portrayed on websites

Children derive much pleasure from seeing pictures of themselves on the web and indeed publishing pictures of children and their work or activity can act as a tremendous motivator. However, sadly there are those who might wish to contact children displayed on the web, and try to arrange to meet them. Those producing websites with children should therefore first consider how vital it is to include individual pictures. If pictures are to be included consider whether they are appropriate, e.g. photographs of children swimming or doing gymnastics are unhelpful. Furthermore it is important to be careful how the child is described in the caption of the photograph as there are dangers of identifying the child if you include the full name, or first name and class. Options are to have group photographs or photos with just first names or nick names or captions such as "members of class 3A with their display."

‚ Be careful about the way children may be contacted from a website

Contact details for individual children, especially e-mail addresses should never be given out on a website and in no circumstances be displayed under a photograph of the child. Care should also be given to the format of e-mail addresses as identifying personal information combined with name of school (the geographical location of which can be obtained) can lead to external remote contact. Of course there are times when a contact e-mail address needs to be included, however it is important that a recognised teacher/carer be supervising the e-mail replies and respond quickly should there be unwelcome e-mails.

ƒ Communicating safety messages to children requires care and sensitivity

Most older children using the Internet will be aware of adult content, but the real danger to children is online contact with an adult which leads to an offline face-to-face meeting. Discussing the importance of ìstranger dangerî requires great sensitivity and care. There is the risk of both over sensationalising the danger and scaring children off from using the Internet, and of inadvertently marketing the dangers and causing children to experiment and try things out. On balance it is best to be proactive and tackle the issues of safety at a young age, and you have to make a judgement as to the best time. In Childnetís experience it is always best to convey the safety tips in a ìcoolî positive way which empowers children to take control rather than a set of ìdos and don't's!î The following SMART mnemonic helps children remember the 5 key tips in a way which reminds them to be smart whilst on line.

When you venture outside of iEARN, there are some really cool things on the Interne,t but a lot of bad stuff too. This means we have to be SMART when we are online.
S	SECRET ‚ Always keep your name, address, mobile phone no and password private - it's like giving out the keys to your home !
M	MEETING someone you have contacted in cyberspace can be dangerous. Only do so with your parent's/guardian's permission, and then when they can be present.
A	ACCEPTING e-mails or opening files from people you don't really know or trust can get you into trouble - they may contain viruses or nasty messages.
R	REMEMBER someone online may be lying and not be who they say they are. Stick to the public areas in Chat rooms and if you feel uncomfortable simply get out of there !
T	TELL your parent or carer if someone or something makes you feel uncomfortable or worried.

In many parts of the world children as young as 8 are using the more interactive services such as Chat, Instant Messaging, and Games and whilst it may be that your children are not at present using these aspects of the Net you should be aware of the dangers. The Childnet site www.chatdanger.com gives important safety information on these new interactive facilities. Childnet has also produced these SMART tips on a mousemat and poster which can be ordered from info@childnet-int.org

„ Recognising the safety issues outside of the school environment

Most school networks will have good filtering and firewall systems in place, however increasingly children are using the Internet in a variety of environments including home, internet cafÈs, clubs, friendís houses etc. Ensuring that children practice the SMART safety rules is therefore imperative. It is important to help parents and carers be informed of the issues and encourage them to monitor their childrenís use of the Internet. There are simple tips for parents such as encouraging them to keep the computer in a family room so they can be involved in their childrenís online activities, setting the computerís Home page to a family friendly site, and checking the history files from time to time. Many parents assume schools are teaching children about Internet safety and may do little more than install a filtering package on their home computer. Whilst filters are effective at removing some inappropriate content they are not 100% effective. Parents need support in understanding these issues and there are some excellent online resources for them (see links section below).

… Changing behaviour rather than simply informing

When discussing Internet safety with children it is vital that you find ways of communicating which result in changed online behaviour. In this regard activity related learning is better. Most children relate better to stories of what has happened to their peers rather than a simple case study or facts and figures. IEARN worker Jo Tate in Australia worked with Childnet to devise a special Internet safety poster design competition with the children discussing the SMART tips and then creating their own posters. Other resources which Childnet has produced include drama, and communicating the safety tips in Text messaging language (which young children love). One of the best strategies for helping children avoid inappropriate content and activity is to direct them to positive sites. Indeed IEARNís work is crucial in this regard. There are excellent examples where children and teachers are using Chat positively to link up to childrenís authors, or discuss issues such as the environment etc. and there are examples on www.chatdanger.com

† Helping children understand the reliability of information

One of the key issues for children using the Internet is helping them to understand the reliability of information on a website. Sadly there are an increasing number of historical revisionist websites (for example see www.martinlutherking.org). In relation to other important subjects such as health education or information on Aids it is imperative that children learn how to spot a bogus website. The UKís Health Education Authority has produced an excellent online guide especially for children (see www.quick.org.uk ) which includes a checklist for understanding the content of a website including, Is the website biased? and Can the information be checked offline?

‡ Reporting illegal material

If you or your children come across illegal material such as child pornography, or racist material etc. or become involved in an incident where an adult is seeking to develop a relationship with a child online, it is vital that you know who you should report this to. In different countries various HOTLINES have been set up which work with Law enforcement and the ISPs to remove illegal material and monitor online behaviour. Childnet set up the Internet Hotline Providers in Europe Association (INHOPE) which links the main hotlines throughout Europe and beyond (USA, Australia) and gives details of who you can report to in which country. See www.inhope.org.

FURTHER RESOURCES

This short guide simply highlights the main key safety issues and suggestions on how to help children keep safe online. For further information on these topics you should see:

1) www.childnet-int.org Childnetís main site contains information on safety and runs an awards program which promotes Internet safety see Best Practice area in www.childnetawards.org

2) www.chatdanger.com Childnet produced a special online safety resource looking at the dangers of internet chat rooms. The site tells the story of one familyís tragic experience and includes a guide to how Chat rooms work and illustrations of how Chat can be used positively.

3) www.getnetwise.org Established with funding from leading US companies, getnetwise gives a very comprehensive guide to online safety for children and parents and gives an excellent overview of the filtering and rating tools currently available.

4) www.safekids.com This website gives an excellent overview of the issues and includes advice on privacy issues and family contracts which both parents and children can sign up to.

5) www.inhope.org The Internet Hotline Providers in Europe website which lists the main hotlines around the world, including the National Centre for Missing and Exploited children in the US.

6) www.quick.org.uk A website designed for pupils and teachers which gives a checklist for checking the reliability of information