Invicta Vlogs
When students hear the words 'E-Safety', they think 'I already know this'
When students hear the words 'E-Safety', they think ‘I already know this’, ‘Why do we need another E-Safety assembly?’ and ‘I am safe online’. I know they think this because I once stood there being told about the upcoming E-Safety talk and thinking those very same thoughts. But now I am a Digital Leader, responsible for working towards keeping all of the students here at Invicta safe online and I want to share some thoughts with you.
There is more to E-Safety than meets the eye. It is about making sure your future is not compromised by people who want to hurt or use you. As a student reading this I know you have been told this before and I know you are aware of this, but do you want to be the one online predators gain advantage over? Do you want to be the one scared and intimidated into doing something you do not want to?
Ignoring E-Safety can seriously affect children, and adults - both now and in the future. A shocking 1 in 4 children have seen something upsetting online. 1 in 3 have been victims of cyberbullying and 1 in 4 have experienced racist or hate messages online.
But how can you be safer online? How can you practise E-safety?
One simple way to reduce your risk is to increase your privacy settings.
Do you know where the privacy settings are on your phone?
Have you ever used them?
You can stop yourself becoming one of these statistics by changing your Privacy Settings to ‘Friends only’ or ‘Private Account’.
Friends are not the people you meet online, they are people you know from school, your past or from outside school. They are not ‘friends of friends’ as anyone can lie about their age and name online. Just because you think you know someone, it does not mean they are not secretly making friends with you for a completely different purpose. Most people leave their accounts open to everyone. The default Privacy Settings on many Apps is ‘Everyone’ or ‘All’. This potentially leaves you open to online bullies and predators who want to hurt or use you.
Over this Christmas period I would urge you all, parents and students, to take five minutes to check and update your Privacy Settings and protect yourself online – do not be a victim.
Megan Edwards
Digital Leader
