E-Safety For Parents and Pupils
In today's technological and social media age, children now have access to unlimited resources on their mobile phones, tablets, desktops and laptops.
Whilst much of this use can be beneficial, for educational purposes, communication, recreation and hobbies, etc, there is also the risk that it can be used for harmful purposes - and we need to educate both ourselves and our children to the risks and dangers that are not always apparent when we first log on.
We encourage parents and children to consider the three basic 'Cs' when posting or reading content on line - wherever it may be:
- CONTENT: be aware of illegal, inappropriate or harmful material that your child may be accessing
- CONTACT: be aware of contact via the device - who is it, age, what are they saying: is it harmful, abusive, or hateful
- CONDUCT: be aware of online behaviour that increases the likelihood of, or causes, harm to themselves or others.
As a school, we have very clear boundaries on using phones and the internet during school hours (and boarding hours) and we have policies that can be accessed by all here: E-Safety Policy. There are also clear guidelines published on appropriate ages for signing up to certain social media sites, and age appropriate games that you should make yourself aware of due to the nature of the content in those games including: violence, sexual nature, drugs, gambling, racism, grooming, radicalisation, etc.
As a parent, you can also limit the time your child spends on a daily basis on their mobile device or laptop, and you can also install parental controls that block the viewing of particular sites and materials for underage users.
Above all, be open and honest with your child and help them learn how to use the internet in a safe and respectful way, remembering that whatever your child posts to the internet will never go away.
The College aims to protect and educate pupils in their use of technology and to have in place appropriate mechanisms to intervene and support students should an incident occur. Our E-Safety Policy and Acceptable Use Policy can be downloaded below, along with Britannica's Guide to E-Safety.