Safer Internet Day 2023
Want to talk about it? Making space for conversations about life online
Safer Internet Day will take place on the 7th February 2023. This year's celebrations are based around the theme: ‘Want to talk about it? Making space for conversations about life online’. It aims to raise awareness of emerging online issues and current concerns.
Safer Internet Day is organised every year by the UK Safer Internet Centre, promoting the safe, responsible and positive use of digital technology for children and young people. This year, they are encouraging young people to shape the support they receive for online safety, and asking parents, carers and teachers to take the time to listen in order to discover what really matters to young people, the changes they want to see and find out what we can do to advocate for them in the future.
Online Sexual Harassment
Many children have unlimited and unrestricted access to the internet via mobile phone networks (for example 3G, 4G or 5G). This access means some children, whilst at school or college, can:
- Sexually harass their peers via their mobile and smart technology;
- Share indecent images: consensually and non-consensually (often via large chat groups); and
- View and share pornography and/or other harmful content.
In June 2021, Ofsted published a report into sexual abuse in schools and colleges following the revelations made public by the Everyone’s Invited campaign. In the report, Ofsted state:
“Girls told us that sexual harassment and online sexual abuse, such as being sent unsolicited explicit sexual material and being pressured to send nude pictures (‘nudes’), are much more prevalent than adults realise…The frequency of these harmful sexual behaviours means that some children and young people consider them normal.”
The report stated that nearly 90% of girls, and nearly 50% of boys, said being sent explicit pictures or videos of things they did not want to see happens ‘a lot’ or ‘sometimes’ to them or their peers.
How Can Schools Prevent Online Sexual Harassment?
In order to tackle this issue, your school or college should:
- Have carefully considered how this is managed on their premises and reflect this in their mobile and smart technology policy and child protection policy;
- Treat cases of online sexual harassment in the same way as any other form of sexual harassment or abuse;
- Report all cases of online sexual harassment to the appropriate authority in a timely fashion;
- Teach pupils about the dangers of online predators and how to stay safe on the internet and when using social media; and
- Establish a clear route for reporting online concerns. Publicise this information and make sure it is easily accessible.
Saferinternet.org.uk have a range of teaching resources for lesson planning here and lots of tools and guidance to help schools generate their own online safety policy here.
NEU also has a free model policy for online safety available here. They also have lots of useful information about social media and online safety here.
How Can Schools Ensure Maximum Online Safety?
Living in the modern age, ICT, social media and the internet are a key part of life. Therefore, the safe of ICT should be at the heart of everything you do as a school and should be a vital part of your organisation’s education programme to ensure the safety of your staff, students and even your visitors.
Schools and academies should:
- Follow all rules and regulations for managing your ICT safely;
- Implement relevant safeguards and training;
- Ensure firewalls and monitoring are installed. However, Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) guidance highlights that whilst it is essential that governing bodies and proprietors ensure appropriate filters and monitoring systems are in place, they should be careful that “over blocking” does not lead to unreasonable restrictions;
- Undertake risk assessments for ICT suites and for the use of online systems in your school;
- Put ICT and online safety policies in place;
- Make sure duty holders have been appointed and suitably trained;
- Keep staff training records;
- Embed online safety across the curriculum;
- Have a clear route for reporting online concerns like cyberbullying and sexual abuse. Student disclosures are a key part of internet safety. A pupil telling you they are concerned about a change in a friend’s online presence could make all the difference;
- Pupils should be reminded of the need to look out for each other in the online world;
- Teach pupils how to behave online and when using social media in order to remain safe on the internet;
- Search alerts are a useful tool for flagging unusual and potentially dangerous searches on school systems; and
- The capabilities of online safeguards should be reviewed regularly to ensure continued safety in the face of the changing nature of technology and digital practices.
Handsam Resources
CP10 Protecting Children from Internet Abuse
RAS14 Risk Assessment Template: ICT Suite
ST16 Tackling Cyberbullying Against Staff
ST26 Managing Staff Use of Social Media
Example Safe Use of Internet, Emails and Telephone Policy
Handsam E-training Centre: Online Safety and ICT Safety