Reflect and discuss the parameters of E-Safety

When I think of E-Safety, I immediately think about selecting a strong password for online accounts or making sure my Facebook profile is private. However, this is only a small area of E-Safety. E-Safety refers to a much wider range of issues.  Children may not realise that some of the things they do, possibly naturally or without realising are actually illegal. The Computer Misuse Act of 1990 states types of computer misuse such as hacking, accessing files without permission, illegal copying and downloading, identity theft and viruses (Savage and Barnett, 2015). These all are possible risks to children that teachers need to be able to teach children about during lessons on E-Safety.

E-Safety refers to the way that children and young people are taught about the risks they may face online and how they can protect themselves (Barnard-Wills, 2012). Teaching E-Safety in a school is really important as now that we live in an increasingly digital world, E-Safety couldn’t be more essential.

Although it is easy for society to presume that E-Safety is being taught in schools (Byron, 2008), it is important to recognise what elements of E-Safety are actually being taught. Most primary schools will have a policy in place regarding E-Safety; however this is likely to reflect official policies rather than policies that are actually relevant to the children being taught. It is essential that children are taught skills and knowledge that is relevant and that they can apply in their everyday lives (Beauchamp, 2012).

Children and young people need to be taught the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to use technology and know how to make conscious decisions about how to protect themselves online. It is important that teachers do adopt this area into their teaching, despite their views on integrating technology into their lessons as E-Safety is such a huge and relevant issue in today’s society (Byron, 2008). My younger brother is currently in an English Primary School and after enquiring about E-Safety, I was informed that the school has one whole week per year dedicated to E-Safety, where they are taught about stranger danger, controlling social media and the importance of parental consent – depending on the year group. These areas are then touched upon during the rest of the year. In my opinion this is a beneficial way of teaching E-Safety, as it is making it very obviously important for a whole week, gaining attention of all children and children, to then be reiterated later on.

To continue, in a previous blog, I mentioned the Digital Competence Framework (DCF) and this comes largely into play when taking about E-Safety. The DCF consists of four strands of education regarding digital technology: Citizenship, Interacting and Collaborating, Producing and Data and Computational Thinking.

The Welsh Government (2016) highlighted the main focusses of each area of the DCF and I have condensed this information below:

Citizenship	Producing	Interacting and Collaborating	Data and Computational Thinking
This strand focuses on developing skills needed to contribute positively to the digital world. It aims to prepare children to face the positive and negative sides of the internet. Critical thinking skills will be developed in order for children to become responsible and independent users and producers of digital products (Welsh Government, 2016).	This strand focuses on planning- which includes searching for and sourcing information online, creating, evaluating and improving content. Digital content includes a variety of components, including text, images, audio and video. Audience consideration is highlighted as well as knowing the purpose of content (Welsh Government, 2016).	This strand allows children to explore online communication.  This will include the professional use of e-mail and social media profiles. Children will learn how to store data effectively as storing and sharing is essential, and know how to collaborate effectively in a range of different situations and contexts (Welsh Government, 2016).	This strand allows children to gain an understanding of how important data is and allows development of data and information literacy by exploring collection, representation and analysis. Children will also learn how computers can solve problems and develop their knowledge of why computational thinking is important (Welsh Government, 2016).

The DCF does aim to develop children’s knowledge of all areas of being online and how to stay safe. This is not only essential for general safety and security when online, but it also goes hand in hand with the new curriculum being introduced in Wales designed by Professor Graham Donaldson, who stresses the importance of Digital Competence.

The next thing I would like to talk about is Digital Footprint. According to ChildLine (2018), a digital footprint is ‘everything people can find out about you from the websites you visit’. Every time you share something on line, you’re adding to your footprint. This is why I think it is essential that children are aware of digital footprints and how they could possibly cause safety concerns if you’re not aware of how to stay safe online.

(Below I have made a word mash of all the words that link to Digital Footprint)

Having social network profiles can be used in very positive ways, particularly in business. For older people, social networking can allow for employment opportunities through websites such as Twitter or LinkedIn. However it can provide a very successful way of communicating with a community of colleagues/friends, for example using Facebook to create an online study group. However, if not used properly, children in particular could be putting themselves at risk when online. Cyberbullying is an example. Many people will have heard of the term Cyberbullying and what it entails, however new technology means Cyberbullying can take place in more forms than ever before, at any time of the day (Savage and Barnett, 2015). Ways to prevent Cyberbullying could include schools and teachers being more connected with parents in the area of children socialising online (Beauchamp, 2012), encouraging children to have private social media accounts, and just teach children to think about what they say online; using the letters of the word ‘THINK- True, Hurtful, Illegal, Necessary and Kind.

To conclude, it is very important that children of today’s society are aware of how to stay safe online. Their Digital Footprint is out there for anyone to see so it is vital that children understand what it is and how they can look after it. The world of social network and the internet in general can be very positive and beneficial in many ways, but there are also many ways it can go wrong. Children need to be taught this from a young age, in and outside of school to allow them to have a safe online future in a world that is slowly being taken over by technology.

Below, I have inserted a link to the ChildLine website which gives information about online and mobile safety, including advice on how to look after your digital footprint and how to generally stay safe online.

I have also inserted a link to a video that some fellow uni students and I created on Emaze, about some commercial risks online.

https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/bullying-abuse-safety/online-mobile-safety/

https://www.emaze.com/@AOOQFFFQT/commercial-risks

References

Barnard-Wills, D. (2012) ‘E-Safety education: Young people, surveillance and responsibility’, Criminology and Criminal Justice, 12(3), pp.239-255.

Beauchamp, G. (2012) ICT in the Primary School: from Pedagogy to Practice. London: Pearson.

Byron, T. (2008) Safer Children in a Digital World: The Report of the Byron Review. Available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/http://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/DCSF-00334-2008.pdf (Accessed: 21st February 2018).

Childline (2018) Taking Care of your Digital Footprint. Available at: https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/bullying-abuse-safety/online-mobile-safety/taking-care-your-digital-footprint/ (Accessed: 25th February 2018).

Savage, M. and Barnett, A. (2015) Digital Literacy for Primary Teachers. St Albans: Critical Publishing.

Welsh Government. (2016) Digital Competence Framework Guidance. Available at: http://learning.gov.wales/docs/learningwales/publications/160831-dcf-guidance-en-v2.pdf (Accessed: 25th February 2018).