We know you have a tough job, with eyes on you from all directions there is limited respite. We understand that for some reason educating children and families about topics that are not in your curriculum have become the norm. Please know you are immensely appreciated and the majority of us will never know how hard your job really is.
I recently had the pleasure of spending some time with a number of principals away from their daily grind. I felt privileged to witness them socialising with their peers in a relaxed environment. They were certainly still the same people, they even appeared to be like the rest of us mere mortals. None the less, that time came to an end, and they once again donned on their principal capes and headed back to their schools, refreshed to face new challenges. This experience left me feeling optimistic about the challenges they face in their roles and their unified desire to find the best way forward.
Cyber safety education in schools is essential to help protect students and keep them safe, and schools have acknowledged this. When it comes to educating parents or carers of students, many schools are at a loss of what to do. Many parents or carers don’t recognise the risks their children face on the internet, because their own online experience is very different or they are perhaps out of touch. As cyber safety educators, we know from our experience that parents aren’t aware of the risks. When they do come to an information session their eyes are opened and they are somewhat dismayed at the dangers they were unaware of. But still, time after time, many parents and carers fail to attend a cyber safety information night and therefore are unknowingly putting their children at risk in their homes. Put simply, we can’t know what we don’t know? Many schools then begin to see “cyber safety information nights” as not an effective use of their limited budgets, and may choose to skip it for a while. It’s only natural to think this way and even more so if you have a business manager looking at the return on investment. The scariest part of this scenario is the very real risks facing our children don’t take that same rest for while, and the most vulnerable place for children online, continues to be at home. Is it the schools duty to educate parents and carers? Well, I’ll leave that for you to answer, but schools do already invest 110% of themselves into the safety and care of their students.
So how do we close the cyber safety net to cover our children at home? Can we find a way to impart our cyber safety knowledge to parents and carers in way that makes a bigger impact? I would love to hear any thoughts on this topic as it is an issue that is real, and a problem that is not going away!
I’m sure there are many schools that don’t want to risk the potential backlash of making cyber safety sessions mandatory for parents and carers, after all it is a big ask in most peoples already busy lives? Most schools have a cyber safety policy, could we make a cyber safety session part of that? Could BYOD (bring your own device) schools suggest that a cyber safety session is required before a device is allowed to go home? Whichever way you look at it, a fresh approach is needed to get parents and carers in a better position to look out for the safety of their children when online in their homes.
As it stands, the more children I speak to, the more I hear of very risky situations occurring in the home. Almost one in every class has a story of an encounter with a potential predator online asking for personal information through a game or social media. This should not be that common of an occurrence and these situations need to stop before its too late.
Yes, Cybersafe Families is in the cyber safety business but we are here because of a need. It wasn’t just a business idea, we are parents that love children and the brilliant things that come from being online. Let’s work together in getting our message into the homes of our families.