Category Archives: Highland

Highland

Smokescreen – New Resource for Promoting Safety Online

“You don’t know me, but I know you…”

In Highland, the E-Safety folk are always on the look out for new and exciting resources. This new game could be just perfect for use in a wide range of settings with young people. It was created by a company called ‘Six to Start’ for Channel 4.

Smokescreen is a cutting-edge game about life online. We all use Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and MSN to keep up with our mates – and we’ve all heard the stories about parties on Facebook being mobbed, or people getting stalked on MSN. The question is, what would you do if it happened to you?

Over 13 missions, Smokescreen follows the story of Max Winston and Cal Godfrey, two mates who’ve set up an exclusive social network called White Smoke. After Cal’s involved in a car accident and falls into a coma, White Smoke becomes huge – and starts attracting huge problems. Each mission sees you explore the world of White Smoke, and find out who you can trust – and who you can’t.

If you have a go at this game, please let us know what you think? Can it contribute to any of the Curriculum for Excellence experiences and outcomes….?

A quick reminder….

Health and Wellbeing – Mental, Emotional, Social and Physical Wellbeing

“I am learning to assess and manage risk, to protect myself and others, and to reduce the potential for harm when possible”.

Technologies

“By considering ways to protect technological devices, I can act safely and responsibly when selecting and using different technologies to communicate and collaborate”.

“I am developing my knowledge and use of safe and acceptable conduct as I use different technologies to interact and share experiences, ideas and information with others”.

Highland

New CEOP Research

More than one in five young people aged 11 to 16 are sharing personal details with strangers online, according to research commissioned by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP).

The research was based on a survey conducted among 1,700 11- to 16-year-olds in the UK. It shows that more than 20 per cent of respondents have shared details such as their full name, where they go to school and photos of themselves, with people they only know online.

Professor Julia Davidson of Kingston University, who led the study, also found that one in five children have been bullied or threatened via the internet.

“A significant proportion of teenagers engage in behaviour that adults would consider risky, such as posting personal information and photos of themselves,” she said. “This is often viewed as acceptable by young people. We need to better understand teenagers’ online behaviour in order to develop more effective policy and safety practices.”

The study examined young people’s knowledge of internet safety and the impact of internet safety training including CEOP’s ThinkUKnow campaign. The campaign provides information, advice and teaching resources to help children and young people stay safe online.

Highland

Internet safety competition

The Scottish Government has announced the launch of an action plan and marketing campaign to improve the safety of children on the internet and prevent problems such as cyber bullying, internet fraud and online grooming. Part of the campaign includes an internet safety competition which will be run in conjunction with Young Scot and Learning and Teaching Scotland.

The competition is to design an original resource to teach others about online safety. It is broken down into three main categories:

A: Resources for primary school children

B: Resources for secondary school children

C: Resources for parents and grandparents.

There is also a special category for adults, like teachers, youth workers and even parents, to enter a resource that they have developed to help teach children and young people about staying safe online:

D. Original resources for children and young people.

Anyone under the age of 16 can enter categories A, B and C. You don’t have to enter the category for the group that is the same age as you.

Adults working with children and young people can enter category D and submit an original resource that they have developed to explore issues around online safety.

The deadline for entries is Thursday 1 April 2010.

For details of how to enter download this Internet Safety Competition_tcm4-586923.doc

Highland

Using drama to support E-Safety education

A new play being toured in Highland secondary schools aims to teach pupils how to use the internet responsibly and avoid cyber bullying.

“The Cyber Room” presented by Eden Court Theatre’s Arts Education Department with The Highland Council starts today (22 Feb) in Grantown Grammar and Kingussie High and will tour other Highland secondary schools until 12 March.

The plot of the play has four 15 year-olds meeting in an internet chat-room. What brings them there? Are they all who they say they are?  Is the room really what it appears to be?  Is someone trying to manipulate the encounter?

This 50-minute play, with post-show discussion, deals with: internet safety and young people; bullying, identity, responsibility and friendship in an internet setting.

The key messages that the play aims to convey are: the importance of using the internet responsibly; to encourage pupils think more carefully about they are talking to online; and to know where they can report someone whose behaviour online is causing them concern.

Councillor Bill Fernie, Chairman of The Highland Council’s Education, Culture and Sport Committee said: “Raising awareness of cyber bullying in a non-threatening way through drama is a very commendable approach at getting the message across to young people.  I am delighted that this work through our Arts Links Officer, Lynn Johnson and Health Promoting Schools Manager, Louise Jones who is also supporting other initiatives and Cyber bullying Guidance that we introduced to staff at the end of last year.”

Highland

New resources for 5 -7 year olds

New on ThinkUKnow


This 8 minute animation introduces Lee & Kim, a brother and sister navigating the online world with the help of their trusted superhero friend SID! With his super powers, SID shows them how to keep themselves safe while having fun online. Based around 4 simple tips for children to remember and a song, the cartoon aims to teach children how to protect themselves and others around them. As well as addressing grooming, the animation also focuses on digital citizenship highlighting the importance of treating each other well and behaving responsibly not only in the playground, but also online.

This cartoon is designed to be played in either Assembly or Circle Time with an introductory and follow-up discussion based on our downloadable activity sheets. The resource is primarily aimed at Key Stage 1 but parts of it would be suitable for Year 3 in Key Stage 2. We have also included several activities for reception children in the Foundation Stage. These core activities are primarily designed to fulfill elements of the PSHE, Citizenship and ICT curriculum.

As well as these core activities we also have a number of follow up activities available for download all designed to link into different parts of the curriculum, including Art & Design, Music, Maths and Physical Education.

All of the activities are supported by additional materials such as masks, a board game and song sheets.



Highland

Cyberbuylling Guidance

This Cyberbullying Guidance has been designed to accompany the revised Highland ECS Anti- Bullying and Anti-Racism Guidelines and Procedures and should be read in conjunction with them.

A facility has been created to support professionals in managing incidents of cyberbullying in Highland, whether children, young people or professionals have been targeted.

The facility will have the capability to:

  • Monitor the incidence of Cyberbullying across Highland.
  • To track specific incidents.
  • To liaise with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the removal of material unless there are allegations of a criminal nature, in which case liaison with ISPs will be via the police single point of contact.
  • To provide advice, guidance and support where internal procedures are insufficient in dealing with high level incidents.

To download the Guide please click on the link below.

Final Cyberbulling Guidance.pdf

Highland

SAFER INTERNET DAY 9TH FEBRUARY 2010

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Welcome back and a very Happy New Year!

This year we will aim to continue with our high profile work on Internet Safety and Responsible Use in Highland, with the aim of creating safer online communities. We have many more training courses available on the Education CPD Calendar and new guidance has been issued to help schools manage incidents of Cyberbullying.

Last year many schools participated in ‘Safer Internet Day’, 2009 was the first year we had promoted this in Highland and many schools held their own events using some of the ideas on our Highland E-Safety Site www.highlandesafety.wordpress.com we have continued to add to the list of ideas.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center (CEOP) have also sent us the following information to distribute to yourselves to promote their resources for Safer Internet Day 2010.

SAFER INTERNET DAY 9TH FEBRUARY 2010

We are asking all schools and TUK ambassadors and trainers to get Tuesday 9th of February in their diaries and plan a Safer Internet Day event in your community. It doesn’t have to be exactly on the day, we are giving over the whole week to the events.

We’ve launched our micro site www.thinkuknow.co.uk/saferinternetdayuk which can guide you through resources that are on offer for you to use, get inspired with a number of suggestions and ideas and a feedback area for you to tell us what you are up to.

As the UK representative for the European-wide Safer Internet Day, CEOP are looking to coordinate everyone’s efforts to put Safer Internet Day on the map and raise awareness of the issues, the risks and the things that children and young people (and their parents on their behalf) to keep themselves safe online.

So, what’s new for Safer Internet Day 2010?

Think before you post competition.

This is a competition that is open for 8-16 year olds to create a short film (1-3 minutes long) under the banner of Think Before You Post – what does it mean to them, how would they explain this sentiment to other young people and we are throwing down the gauntlet to young people to be as creative as they like to get this message across to their peers – and the opportunity to win some exciting prizes. Entries can be made by individuals, small groups of up to 5 people or as a whole class – a great end of term project perhaps!

For further details click here www.thinkuknow.co.uk/saferinternetdayuk/competition

New resources for Key Stage 1

CEOP have developed a new animation for children between 5-7 with activities for pre-school children to teach them about personal information, playing safely on the computer and behaving nicely to others online. You can download the free resources the end of January 2010.

Other resources available

· A NEW cyber-bullying episode for Hector’s World

· Two assembly programmes for primary and secondary schools

· Online banners and SID badges to download for your website

Tell us all about it

We will have an interactive map which you can upload the details of your initiatives which we can make available to local, regional and national media outlets to generate local press coverage in your area.

Visit the Safer Internet Day micro-site at www.thinkuknow.co.uk/saferinternetdayuk to get more ideas and suggestions about how to raise the issue of online safety in your community.

If you do hold any sessions, events or activities please do remember to let us know and where possible keep evidence of the impact your activities have made in enabling pupils to become safer digital citizens.

If you need any further information please contact Jim Henderson or Louise Jones.

Highland

Facebook site offers advice to prevent cyber-bullying

1. Only accept friends you know

In order to prevent harassment from strangers, only accept friend requests from people you know and report any messages or profiles that look suspicious. Facebook is based on a real name culture, and fake profiles are regularly disabled when they’re reported to us. Only confirmed friends can post to your Walls or contact you via Facebook Chat, so if you’re worried that someone will make inappropriate posts or send offensive messages, you should ignore that person’s request.

2. Stop abusive behaviour

A block prevents someone from viewing your profile. If you receive inappropriate or abusive communication, you can block the person by listing his or her name in the “Blocking People” box at the bottom of the privacy page. In addition to blocking, if you receive abusive messages on your wall or via Facebook chat, you can remove the offender from your friend list.

3. Report trouble directly to Facebook

You can report an abusive user by clicking the “Report/Block person” link that appears at the bottom of that person’s profile. Additionally, if you are informed of inappropriate behavior on the part of someone you have already blocked, ask a friend to report that person on your behalf. Reports are confidential and the person being reported does not know that they have been reported. After a report is submitted, Facebook will investigate the issue and make a determination as to whether or not the content should remain on the site based on its terms of use. A Facebook administrator looks into each report thoroughly in order to decide the appropriate course of action.

4. Keep your information private

Restrict your privacy settings on Facebook so that certain people can’t access information like your Wall, photos, or profile. You can also customize your privacy settings if you feel uncomfortable about being found in searches or having your profile viewed publicly. Privacy on Facebook is controlled primarily from the privacy settings page, which can be accessed from the settings link at the top of any Facebook page.

5. Don’t react to bullies – block, report or delete them

Rather than responding to a bully directly via inbox, a Wall post, or Facebook Chat, you can delete offensive posts from your Wall or messages from your Inbox and then use the “Blocking” or “Reporting” functions to resolve the issue safely.

To delete an offensive Wall post, hover over the post in question, click the “Remove” button that appears, and select “Delete” in the dialogue box.

To delete a message from Inbox, simply click the “Delete” button at the top of the message. Because only confirmed friends can post to a Wall or send a message through Chat, users who don’t like the posts and Chat messages they’re receiving should consider removing the people responsible from their friends list.

Highland

Targets of cyberbullying to receive support in the Highlands

Guidance on tackling bullying via the Internet and mobile phones is soon to be distributed to all staff in education, culture and sport establishments throughout The Highland Council’s area.

Councillor Bill Fernie, Chairman of the Council’s Education, Culture and Sport Committee said: “Members have given their full endorsement to new Cyberbullying Guidance which was created by a multi-agency/organisation working group.”

The working group consulted widely with the Local Negotiating Committee for Teachers (LNCT), the Council’s E-Safety Strategy Group, parents and teachers of primary and secondary schools; Northern Constabulary and NHS Highland; the Council’s Legal Service and Education, Culture and Sport Service Officers; and the voluntary sector.

Report author, Louise Jones, Health Promoting Schools Manager informed members that advice on the draft version of the guidance was also sought from the national anti-bullying organisation ‘Respectme’. She stated that: “Respectme are unaware of any other authority in Scotland which has developed support for professionals with the unique issues which cyberbullying can present, and that Respectme congratulated Highland Council on its approach to this issue.”

The Cyberbullying Guidance will support Education, Culture and Sport staff who have to deal with children and young people who may be on the receiving end of cyberbullying. The guidance will also enable staff to learn how to avoid cyberbullying.

Louise Jones added: “Cyberbullying can have devastating impacts on the targets, some of which have been our own staff in recent times through teacher rating websites. The guidance will also help staff who they themselves have been on the receiving end of cyberbullying.”

The guidance covers; an explanation of what constitutes cyberbullying; the Laws concerned; preventing, responding and investigating cyberbullying and how to work with the person displaying cyberbullying behaviour.

Further information on cyberbullying and e-safety can be found on www.highlandesafety.wordpress.com or by contacting Louise Jones on tel: 01463 702066.

For more detailed information follow this link