On Monday 7th March 2011, Stirling Council hosted an Internet Safety event. The event  was split into 3 seminars held at  two locations  – the Vue Cinema, Stirling and Wallace High School. This event was attended by 900 delegates and was over subscribed by 400 highlighting the growing concerns around Internet Safety.

There were four speakers in attendance:

Chief Inspector Gordon Dawson from Central Scotland Police, who described the work the Police have undertaken around the Internet including Operation Defender.

Linda Thomson of the Women’s Support Project spoke about how our culture is giving mixed messages about sex, sexuality and relationships to children and young people and creating unrealistic expectations and pressures to be hyper sexualized at younger and younger ages.

There was input from FACT (Federation Against Copyright Theft) who presented on risks associated with illegal downloading and how to be safe, legal and responsible.

Joe Shaw from Education in Stirling Council on “Taking Control…”, this presentation outlined how much we use technology in our day to day life, examples of technology addiction and how we can take sensible steps to safeguard our identity and reduce the risks of being targeted whilst online.

Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini and members of the Press were in attendance.

This conference builds upon the significant work already undertaken by the Education team within Stirling Council.