1 What exactly does ‘e-safety’ mean, and why should I care?
We all know that the internet, like real life, contains both good and bad. Although we don’t want to overplay the dangers posed by cyber-criminals, viruses and malware, internet scams and worse, we can’t deny they exist. E-safety – essentially, knowing how to be safe online – is something that concerns us all. It especially concerns those of us who are in charge of children, whether parents or teachers of young learners (we’ll define ‘young learners’ as those under the age of 18). If you are a teacher of young learners, then understanding e-safety should be a key part of your professional know-how.
2 What sort of e-safety issues can affect my young learners?
The key question. Arguably, one of the most common threats affecting children online is cyber-bullying – that is, bullying via electronic means such as text messages or social media. Other often-cited threats include online ‘stranger danger’ (befriending people you don’t know online, who may not be who they seem to be), ‘sexting’ (sending messages, images or videos with sexual content – something that affects teenagers rather than younger children), and ‘grooming’ (adults who prey on youngsters, and pressure or blackmail them for sexual favours). This is a very scary-sounding list. Although these dangers do all exist, we need to be careful about over-reacting. We should keep in mind that only a very small percentage of online users ever suffer these abuses. So, rather than simply terrifying everyone, we need to take a proactive stance and help children a) to understand and identify aberrant online behaviour and b) to develop strategies to deal with issues if they should ever arise. We also need to show our students specific things they can do to keep safe online from the outset. Prevention is better than cure.
3 So how can I help my young learners stay safe online?
Start by focusing on the concrete things that children can do to avoid bad situations arising in the first place. This involves them understanding that they need to limit the information about themselves they share online, for example in social networking profiles. They also need to be careful about who they befriend online. And in order to challenge the culture of internet bullying, we need to teach our young learners to be respectful and polite themselves when they are dealing with others online – the rule of thumb here is to ask ‘Would I shout this comment out loud in a crowded room?’ Because on a social networking site, this is effectively what they are doing. And we need to teach them that if any bad situations do arise, they should go to an adult for help.
4 Should I spend time in class talking about this with my young learners?
Definitely. The issue of e-safety – and how to stay safe online – is an excellent topic for a language class (or two). Here are some activities you can do:
- Activity 1: Posters (suitable for all ages) Have the students brainstorm safe practices online and create posters in small groups. You could use the poster at http://goo.gl/1GRRdr as an example and to help them with ideas.
- Activity 2: Cyber-bullying (suitable for teenagers) Have a short discussion about cyber-bullying – what it is, and whether your learners have heard of (or experienced) any examples of it. Show them the short award-winning film about cyber-bullying at http://goo.gl/fCkNn1, and discuss it afterwards.
- Activity 3: Social networks (suitable for teenagers) Ask your learners what social networks they belong to, what the pros and cons are, and what positive or negative experiences they have had with social networks. Hand out the ‘social network discussion cards’ available at http://goo.gl/xHMnDD (scroll down for them). Ask the learners to work in small groups to discuss each situation and to come up with a solution.
Of course, the discussion of issues surrounding internet use and e-safety does not need to be restricted to the classroom or to young learners. It’s also worth thinking about organising a parents’ evening at your school, so as to ensure the parents are also equipped to help their children stay safe online.
5 Where can I find more resources about e-safety?
Because e-safety is such an important area, there are plenty of online resources for children, teachers and parents. Here are two websites I especially recommend: NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children): http://www.nspcc.org.uk/CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, part of the UK National Crime Agency): http://ceop.police.uk/ Both these sites have advice, tips, checklists and video resources about how to keep children safe. Even if your young learners don’t go online during your classes, they may have access to technology at home – if not now, then probably at some point in the future. Teaching them to understand the importance of e-safety is something that will help them both now and in the future.
