e-Safety in Schools

Awareness Raising Film for young people who are deaf: "Sams Real Friends"

• This film is a 12 minute dramatisation depicting a young boy who experiences cyberbullying and grooming online;
• The key messages in this film are:
• To be kind to each other online
• Be aware that others can lie about who they are online
• Protect personal information online
• Know who to tell if you're worried.

• All actors in the film use British Sign Language.
• The film is simple and linear in its portrayal, helping the audience to receive clear messages
• Attention was paid to ensure accurate illustration of the deaf community (including colloquial signs and text speak);
• There are two versions of the film that can be accessed, one that plays the film straight and another that plays the action with subtitles.

Awareness Raising Film for young people with special educational needs and learning disabilities: "Know your friends with Josh and Sue"

• This film is a 5 minute animation depicting two friends who experience cyberbullying and grooming online;
• There are four main learning points for the film that are summarised at the end of the animation to help the young people remember what happened and how they can protect themselves. The key messages are:
• To be kind to each other online
• Be aware that others can lie about who they are online
• Protect personal information online
• Know who to tell if you're worried.

• There are three versions of this animation:
• One for mild to moderate needs
• One for moderate to severe needs
• One that places the audio in isolation, for blind and visually impaired young people.
• All versions of this animation depict simple, linear and clear messages;

Lesson plans and suggested activities

Both films are accompanied by a set of curriculum linked lesson plans and suggested activity sheets.  They are designed to reinforce and explore the key messages in the films through various activities and discussions and professionals can utilise and adapt these lessons and activities to make them appropriate for the young people they work with.

Textured stickers

There will also be stickers available to order by post to help support the learning and remind the young people of where to go to get help.  These stickers are slightly raised and textured and can be used in workbooks or as rewards.

Some of the previously released Think U Know videos for children and young people in KS1, KS2 and KS3 (Jigsaw, Consequences and Lee and Kim) are also now available with BSL and/or subtitles.

This new range of resources is available free of charge via www.thinkuknow.co.uk/teachers. 

Launched on the 12^th July, all young users of Facebook - and their parents/carers - are invited to add the new ClickCEOP ‘app' to their profile. Through this app, they will be able to access advice, help and support directly from the CEOP Centre as well as Facebook.  Crucially, young people will be able to report instances of suspected grooming or inappropriate sexual behaviour directly from their profile to specially trained investigators from CEOP.The ‘app' is the outcome of collaboration between CEOP and Facebook who have combined Facebook's expertise in connecting and communicating online with CEOP's expertise in helping young people stay safe.

Once added to their profiles, young users (and any adults who add the app) will receive regular messages from CEOP and its partner organisations who operate ‘behind the button' to make children safer. CEOP's new Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ClickCEOP) will also contain polls, news alerts and status updates. The page will look at topics that teenagers care about, such as celebrities, music and exams and will link these subjects to questions about online safety.

Any Facebook user can add or bookmark the ‘app' so it appears on their profile, as not only a constant source of help and reassurance but also as a strong visual signal to friends, family and others that they are in control online.

The move is also being supported by an advertising campaign on Facebook that will encourage take up, which will include an automatic advert appearing on every profile of users aged between 13-18 years inviting them to add the app.

Jim Gamble, Chief Executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre said: 

 "Today represents a huge step forward. By adding this app, Facebook users will have direct access to all the services that sit behind our ClickCEOP button and this should provide reassurance for the many parents whose teenage children use Facebook. We know from speaking to offenders that a visible deterrent could protect young people online. We urge all Facebook users not only to add the app, but also to bookmark it so that others can see that they're in control online. Our dialogue with Facebook about adopting the ClickCEOP button is well documented - this is a good day for child protection."

 Joanna Shields, Facebook's Vice President for EMEA said: 

"Nothing is more important than the safety of our users, which is why we have invested so much in making Facebook one of the safest places on the internet. There is no single silver bullet to making the internet safer but by joining forces with CEOP, we have developed a comprehensive solution which marries our expertise in technology with CEOP's expertise in online safety.  Together we have developed a new way of helping young people stays safe online and backed this with an awareness campaign to publicise it to young users. It is only through the constant and concerted effort of the industry, police, parents and young people themselves that we can all keep safe online - whether on Facebook or elsewhere."

ClickCEOP in Facebook - How can we help?

If you would like to support CEOP and Facebook's initiative, please use any of the following updates.

Facebook status update:

If you have a fan page, profile or group on Facebook then add the ClickCEOP app directly and promote it to your users. If you work with young people then promote young people use of the Facebook App across your school or setting www.facebook.com/ClickCEOP

Web site content:

Feel free to add this to your website/communications channel for young people and parents/carers

"Every young person on Facebook needs the ClickCEOP app - this is why

If you have teenagers, then you'll know they will probably be using Facebook.  You might even be using it yourself...  if so, you will want to know about a new, free application in Facebook that is designed to keep young people safe while they are having fun networking online.

ClickCEOP is a new ‘app' launched  on Monday 12 July  which links the young usre (and parents) directly from their Facebook profile to help, advice and reporting facilities of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre - the police agency set up to tackle child abuse www.ceop.police.uk  

By adding the app, young people and parents can get support from CEOP on a range of issues - viruses, hacking, dealing with bullying online and they can report someone who is acting inappropriately towards them online. 

If you have a Facebook profile, app and bookmark the app.  If children in your care are on Facebook, get them to search ‘ClickCEOP' in Facebook and give them to chance to be one click away from help - if they should ever need it.

www.facebook.com/clickceop

www.thinkuknow.co.uk

www.facebook.com/safety"

Web Browsers - Add the CEOP Report Abuse button to your web browser

You can download the 'Click CEOP' button into your browser toolbar to provide instant access to internet safety information for children and parents.

This works on Internet Explorer 8, Firefox or Google Chrome. www.ceop.police.uk/browsersafety

Register your Website as a "Digital Asset"  

If you manage or are in the process of setting up a website aimed  at young people, or if  you work with young people and/or parents/carers in a way in which your site could or should carry e-Safety advice then you can register your website with CEOP as part of their Digital Asset Library. CEOP offer a number of free downloads available when you register your website, each designed to provide young people and parents/carers with a one-click route to advice, guidance and if required an ability to report online crime. Please register with CEOP to download the resources www.thinkuknow.co.uk/assets

For more advice and information visit:

www.facebook.com/clickceop

www.ceop.police.uk 

www.facebook.com/safety

But what the National Education Network and Lancaster University want to know is, "how do young people and schools use the internet?"  "Have they had any bad experiences?"  "Do they understand about filtering and esafety?" "And how do their views of digital technology relate to the views of their teachers?"They also want to know about their attitudes to social networking sites.  Are they worried about what can happen through the use of these sites, or do they see them as an unremittingly good thing?

Going further, there's also the question of their mobile phones - how do they use them? When do they use them, and again, do they have any concerns?  And indeed should  educators, be concerned with how these devices are being used.

At the moment no one is quite sure what young people feel about these digital devices, and how their feelings accord with those of their teachers.  Because of this we can't be sure if current approaches to such issues as filtering and e-safety are the best approaches, or whether we should be working in different ways to ensure that pupils and teachers remain safe when using digital technology.  

This new research, (to be conducted across the UK), is being undertaken by the National Education Network (the UK collaborative network for on line education funded by government), and Lancaster University.  It consists of simple surveys, one group directed at teachers and personnel in schools (head teachers, safeguarding officers, teachers, non-teaching staff, and governors), and one at pupils - obviously with different questions for each different age group (14-19, 12-14, 10-11, 8-9, and 5-7 years of age).

To find out more, and to access the surveys, go to: http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/projects/nen/  

The hope is that the results from these surveys will help us develop strategies and educational programs for the future. School teachers, e-Safety Leads and other adults working with children are all encouraged to complete the survey. The results will be viewed in geographical location and all schools who participate can receive an analysis (with no personal details) of the findings for their specific school .

As a result of concerns raised by users about Facebook's increasingly complicated Privacy Settings Facebook are beginning to roll out their new and "improved" changes to all users.

 A Summary of the Key Changes, benefits and any possible implications to consider:

• Users' privacy settings are controlled from one central page now, which makes it significantly easier to work out what to change and edit.
• Hopefully this will make the process of sharing (or not!) information on Facebook easier for both Young People and Adults
• You can control if a profile can be found via public Search listings (e.g. Google) by using the "Public search "option on the Applications and Websites page controls. This controls whether people who enter your name in a search engine will see a preview of your Facebook profile (often a worry for professionals). It also controls whether things you've specifically chosen to share with everyone show up in searches on and off Facebook.
• 
  
• You can hide your interests (as well as other information such as your status, relationships etc) as part of the "Basic Directory Information".
• Previously your "Interests" had been changed to a new system after the last privacy revamp, to be known as "connections" and could not be set to friends only etc.
• You control who can see the photos and videos you're tagged in that appear on your profile. However, this simply limits who see the tag, not the photo or video itself, so be aware that the owner of a photo (the user who uploaded or posted it) can still share that photo with people you're not friends with. The only way of getting rid of any photos and videos is to report tem to Facebook (but be aware they will only remove photos/videos which breach their terms and conditions) or ask that the person who posted the content removes it.
• If a photo or video is posted of someone under the age of 13, then parents/carers can contact Facebook request for it to be removed. For more information visit http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=831#!/help/?faq=17289

• You can share your information with friends, friends of friends or everyone, and Facebook offers users' presets options to help you do that.
• If you prefer, you can still customise your settings in more detail (a more 'granular' approach e.g. using Friends lists). Customise settings" displays a full list so you can control the privacy level for each setting". This also is where you can change your privacy controls for Photo Albums. All users should be aware that each photo album needs to be controlled and the privacy for each album needs to be set separately to "Friends only" etc.
• With young people in particular the use of the term "Friends" may not always mean "real world" friends so should be used with caution if strangers are accepted onto any friends' lists.
  

• Certain Information will now ALWAYS be public: Name, Profile Picture, Gender and Networks you are a member of. According to Facebook this is to make it easier for your "real world" friends to find you.
• This cannot be changed so this information, in particular profile pictures will now need to be very carefully considered before uploading.
• You can of course use a nickname for your real name, avoid uploading photos you wouldn't want to share publicly as profile pictures, use avatars for profile pictures and don't join any networks such as towns or schools etc.

• You can hide your friends list; users can now choose to make friends lists private, so only your friends can see who you are friends with. That means applications and search engines etc will not be able to find out who your friends are.
• This is a really good tool for professionals who use Facebook personally as you cannot always control what information is posted online by friends, family and colleagues. By hiding your friends list, you can limit the possibility that your friends profiles may accidentally share too much.
  

• You can now opt out of Applications.
• You can now choose to block all applications and games, etc, meaning no application requests, and reducing levels of Spam and viruses. However it is unlikely many users will chose this option as they will be unable to continue to play games such as Farmville etc. For those who do wish to continue to use apps, then you can have greater control over what information you share and what information your friends can share about you.

• Block Lists are easier to access and can be found on the same page as the privacy settings. The block list lets you block people from interacting with you or seeing your information on Facebook. You can also specify friends who you want to ignore application invites from, and see a list of the specific applications that you've blocked from accessing your information and contacting you.
• This is a very useful tool to highlight to all users, for example staff may wish to block young people etc from contacting them and young people may wish to use this to block comments and messages from online bullies.

• Instant Personalization is still opt-out. This is one of the key things which prompted all of the recent criticism of Facebooks' Privacy Settings. "Instant Personalization" is still opt-out.
• Instant Personalization works by sharing information from your Facebook profile with some "select partner sites" in order to personalise the site for you. This only includes information that's already visible to everyone.
• You can turn off instant personalisation for specific sites or you can turn it off completely from the Applications and Websites options. This will prevent these partners from receiving your information through instant personalisation, including what's visible to everyone.

• Implications for younger users (Minors)
• Facebook state that "We are committed to protecting minors who use Facebook." Until their eighteenth birthday, minors don't have public search listings created for them and the visibility of their information is limited to friends of friends and networks, even if they've chosen to make it available to everyone. Again, as discussed above, this does not apply to name, profile picture, gender and networks, which are visible to everyone so real-world friends can recognise them. This is something that should be carefully considered and discussed with younger users.
• The age restriction for Facebook remains at 13. Facebook requires its users to be at least 13 years old before they can create an account. Providing false information to create an account is a violation of their Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and underage profiles reported to Facebook will be removed. However it is worth considering that there would be little to stop young people setting up a new account, so it may consider that it would be better for adults to know that underage young people have a profile and discuss safe online use and behaviour with them monitor it rather than potentially drive any incidents and concerns "underground".

These changes are currently being rolled out across the platform and it is strongly recommended that users revisit their privacy settings and ensure they understand how they work. Previous Privacy settings will be saved as they currently exist. These new settings and any changes made will also cover previous/backdated content as well as any futurecontent and updates.

Facebook's privacy explanation (with full details) can be found at http://www.facebook.com/privacy/explanation.php

The Facebook Safety Centre also helps explain how to use Facebook and report any concerns http://www.facebook.com/help/?safety

I welcome any comments and insights and may post information etc more once I've spent more time looking into the new Privacy Controls.

 Rebecca

The survey, carried out last month was commissioned by National Family Week - an event supported by charities including the NSPCC and the Women's Institute - which encourages families to spend more time together. The survey was based on 3,000 parents and 1,000 children across the UK, looked at the perceptions of children and parents of family life.

66% of parents believed that they were the main influence on their children, compared to 49 per cent of children who's perception was that their parents had the most impact on their lives.
 

Girls saw websites such as Facebook as much more influential than television, magazines, celebrities and even their own siblings. The most popular choices for the three most important things in girls lives were friends, family and then Facebook and MSN. 73% of boys chose family as the most important thing in their lives, compared with 53% of girls, boys identified money and friends as their next most important things. Social networking was seen as a lower priority for boys - only 6% selecting it in their top three things in their lives, compared with 40% of girls.

Girls were more likely to believe that technology - in the form of social networking and mobile phones - has a major influence on their lives, 41% of girls think technology and only 17% of boys.

Girls see their big influences as parents, teachers and technology - while boys identify parents, friends and school. The survey also claims that parents have failed to keep up with their children's use of technology and age limits (such as Facebooksterms of service stating that users must be 13 or over).

See BBC News for more Coverage

Ultimately this survey recognised that to most children (and indeed many adults) Facebook and other online social networking sites mean friendship. These sites are now one of the key ways in which young people chat, stay in touch and up-to-date and communicate with their peers. Rather than playing outside in the "dangerous real world" they seek companionship online and play in online worlds. The issue is that children often don't understand the online dangers as it's a world that few adults have grown up in or understand.

Children often perceive Social Networking, online gaming and chat sites as areas of safety - they are in their own homes, often in their bedrooms or at friends houses, how can anything bad happen there?!

Of course they are not "safe", dangers occur online but risks can occur anywhere despite putting safety measures in place. Pedestrian crossingsalone don't prevent accidents, they just reduce the risk, they must be combined with teaching children to cross the road safely aswe don't just rely on one method to keep them safe. Much like in the real world we can't eliminate all of the risks that children face, what we can do is educate them how to cope with these dangers; to be resilient and learn how to keep themselves safe in the first place.

Peer or friendship education should be seen as essential part of this process, children are keen to learn and often be influenced by their peers (either for bad or for good).

One of the most successful projects I am  currently running is a project with Leading Teachers and  the Kent Advisory Service for Primary schools where local partnerships of schools work together to embed and understand e-Safety. These events have not only been attended by schools, but also Local Children's Centres and Kent Police etc.The project begins with a Staff Development day to ensure all staff develop a good level of e-Safety awareness and enables them to formulate an e-Safety action plan for their school. Some partnerships have additionally offered parent sessions and staff twilight training.

The next event is a training day for pupils (often year 5 and 6 but has also worked with years 2,3 and 4) which focuses on using a peer led approach. This involves training the pupils to become e-Safety ambassadors, who can then go back into their schools to deliver the e-safety message to other children as well as staff and parents.  The children are then invited to come back and share their ideas and resources with the other schools for a celebration event.

The feedback for these has been overwhelming positive both from the children and the staff involved as it gives the children a feeling of ownership over the issue and motivates them to help keep other children safe. If any schools, partnerships or other authorities are interested in this partnership approach then please contact esafetyofficer@kent.gov.uk

All schools and settings need to understand the significance of e-safety within the 2009 Ofsted inspection framework, which highlights the importance of safeguarding, including e-safety in helping children learn and achieve to the best of their abilities and to stay safe.

The updated 2010 e-Safety Policy Guidance and Template builds upon the foundations laid by previous editions and incorporates new content and materials that schools and other settings may find useful when writing and reviewing e-Safety Policies.

It is essential that schools and settings are aware of both the benefits and risk of using new Technology for students, staff and the wider community. The 2010 Guidance document now has a specific section regarding the use of Social Media tools as an establishment and we strongly recommend that schools and settings read and carefully consider the information and advice before using externally controlled online tools such as social networking. Schools and settings can also consult with the e-Safety Officer to discuss ideas and options.

 New content includes:

• An updated Incident flow chart for e-Safety incidents (including a handy customisable Poster version to use in staffrooms etc)
• New information about Kent Police procedures
• Sections added regarding Cyberbullying and Learning Platforms
• References to Data Security considerations
• Discussion regarding use of Social Media Tools as an establishment
• Updated audit tools, contact information, notes on the legal framework and references to useful materials

The updated documents are available electronically at www.kenttrustweb.org.uk?esafety

Schools and Settings e-Safety Policy Guidance 2010

Schools and Settings 2010 Policy Template

Poster: Responding to an incident of concern

Schools and other agencies and establishments (youth workers etc) will need to register first and will then be emailed a lesson plan, further resources and most importantly, the theme! All you have to do is to think about the theme, decide on how to film your message and keep it to 60 seconds and get it back to Childnet by Friday 28th May 2010 you'll in with a chance of winning!

 How does it work?

• The shortlisted finalists will be selected from each category and invited to a private screening in London, the first week of July.
• Childnet's judging panel will then select a winner and two runners up from each category (judges will be revealed to invited finalists)

Competition opens: 9am on Tuesday 4th May

Competition closes:  5pm on Friday 28th May

Finalists notified: 14th June

Screening & finalist event: First week of July (date to be confirmed)

How to enter

• Teachers and youth workers MUST register on behalf of all entrants to film@childnet.com   and clearly state

• Your name and position
• School or establishment
• Primary or secondary category

Good luck to all those who enter!

For more details visit www.childnet.com/downloads/Film_competion_Pb.pdf

Key successes that she highlighted included:

• ‘Zip it, Block it, Flag it', the public awareness campaign for parents
• the creation of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS), a coalition of government, charities and industry
• the publication of an internet safety strategy "Click Clever, Click Safe"

 Professor Byron did  also make it very clear that more needs to be done to help speed up the delivery of policy and actions that fundamentally impact on the lives of children and young people.

New recommendations made inclued:

• UKCCIS should better engage with, and listen to, children, young people and parents to ensure that work focuses on the issues which are important to them, e.g. underage children on social networking sites and the issue of easy access to pornography.
• Industry should speed up work on a self-regulated code of practice to keep pace with the changes in new technologies, such as wifi access on mobile phones.
• The UKCCIS Board must have an independent chair to provide strategic leadership, sharpen the focus on delivery and increase the pace of progress.
• UKCCIS should work with mobile phone manufacturers to improve parental controls on mobile phones and consider the need for minimum standards for parental controls on games consoles. This should include more support for parents on how they can use and access these controls.

To access the document and press release click here

To view Professor Byron's interview with BBC Breakfast click here

Some interesting new findings to ponder...

Social Networking

• A quarter of children aged 8-12 who use the internet at home say they have a profile on Facebook (19%), Bebo (11%)  or MySpace (4%) (Bearing in mind all these sites have a minimum user age of 13).
• 83% of these children have their profile set so that it can only be seen by friends, and 4% have a profile that can't be seen. 
• Nine in ten parents of these children who are aware that their child visits social networking sites (93 per cent) also say that they check what their child is doing on these types of sites. However one in six (17 per cent) parents of this group are not aware that their child visits social networking sites.
• Just over a third (37%) of 5-7 year old who use the internet at home said they visited Facebook in October 2009 (but did not necessarily have a profile).
• Seven in ten (70%) 12-15s with the internet at home have a social networking site profile.

Downloading TV, Film and Videos

•  Downloading or watching TV programmes or films on the internet has increased by 4% in the past year by children aged 8-15 who use the internet at home (from 17% in 2008 to 21% in 2009)
• 44% of 12-15s say they think that downloading shared copies of films and music for free should not be illegal, with 18% saying they don't know and 38% saying it should be illegal.
• Boys aged 12-15 are more likely to say it should not be illegal (48%). 

Seeing is believing...

• Blogs or sites like Wikipedia where people can add or change information are visited by one in five (18%) of 8-11s and half of 12-15s (4%) who use the internet at home.
• Users of these sites aged 8-11 are much more likely than 12-15s to believe that the information on these types of sites is all or mostly true (70% vs. 48%) with boys aged 8-15 more likely than girls of this age to believe that all or most of the information is true (59% vs. 46%).
• Two in five users of social networking sites aged 8-11 and 12-15 also believe that all or most of the information on these sites is true (38% and 40% respectively).
• One in four 12-15s (27%) who use search engines think that search engines only return results from websites with truthful information. 

Children's internet use, access and attitudes

• One in eight children aged 8-11 (12%) and three in ten 12-15s (31%) have internet access in their bedroom.
• Seven in ten 8-11s (71%) and three in four 12-15s (74%) have a games console in their bedroom. 
• One in six (16%) children say that "it's easier to keep things private or secret on the internet than it is in real life" 
• One in seven (14%)children aged 8-15 saying they "feel more confident online than they do in real life" or that "it's easier to talk about personal things on the internet".

Parental awareness and attitudes

•  
• 85% said "I trust my child to use the internet safely"
• Four in five (79%) parents said "My child has been taught at school how to use the internet safely"
• Three in five (61%) said that "My child knows more about the internet than I do". 
• Parental rules for TV, the internet and games are in place for between 80-90% of 5-11s
• 43% of parents of children aged 5-15 say they have controls or filtering software in place at home
• 14% of parents of 5-15s without controls in place say they either haven't heard of, or don't know how to set up, internet controls or filtering software

For more information and full details:

The full news release can be found here

The full Children's Media Literacy audit can be found here

If you have used Know It All for Parents, Know IT All for Primary, Know IT All for Secondary and/or Know IT All for Trainee Teachers, then please visit http://www.childnet.com/kia/evaluation/ where you can have your say.

If you have not used these resources, but are interested, you can find them at http://www.childnet.com/kia/ as well as detail on how to order these free resources where relevant.

These resources have received support from Government agencies/departments including Becta, the UKCCIS, the TDA, and the DCSF, and feedback on the use and effectiveness of these resources is key for determining any future resource development and provision.

Your feedback is essential to ensuring the quality and usefulness of these resources continues.

The report evaluated the extent to which the schools taught pupils to adopt safe and responsible practices in using new technologies, and how they did (or did not) achieve this. It also assessed training on internet safety for the staff in the schools visited and considered the schools' links with families in terms of e-safety.

All of the schools visited reported that they had dealt with a variety of e-safety incidents, such as pupils accessing inappropriate websites, as well as problems with social networking sites and instant chat sites.

The inspectors focused on 5 key areas:

• Overall effectiveness of e-Safety
• Outcomes for pupils
• E-Safety provision
• Leadership and management
• Training for all staff

The provision for e-safety was outstanding in five of the schools, good in 16, satisfactory in 13, and inadequate in one.

The 21 most effective schools were considered to have a well-considered, active approach to keeping even the youngest  pupils safe when they were online and were helping them to take responsibility for their safety with knowledge that is appropriate to and sufficient for their age and stage of development. The schools carefully considered the pupils' knowledge and understanding and supported them accordingly. The staff training was well established, incidents and activities were logged and recorded and the e-Safety curriculum was planned and coordinated effectively across all subjects and Key stages.

In the "outstanding" schools all the staff, including members of the wider workforce, shared responsibility for e-Safety and its delivery and development across the school. Assemblies, tutorial time, personal, social, health and education lessons, and an age-appropriate curriculum for e-safety all helped their pupils to become safe and responsible users of new technologies. Senior leaders, governors, all members of staff and families worked together to develop a clear strategy for e-safety and policies and procedures were reviewed regularly in light of technological developments. These schools also recognised that, although they had excellent relationships with families, they needed to keep developing these to continue to support e-safety at home.

All of the ‘outstanding' schools used ‘managed' systems to help pupils to become safe and responsible users of new technologies. ‘Managed' systems (filtering and monitoring systems) have fewer inaccessible or blocked sites than ‘locked down' systems and so require pupils to take responsibility themselves for using new technologies safely. ‘Locked down' Systems were felt not to provide pupils with enough opportunities to learn how to assess and manage risk for themselves online. 13 schools used ‘locked down' systems which kept their pupils safe while in school, Ofsted felt that such systems were less effective in helping them to learn how to use new technologies safely. These pupils could therefore be considered more vulnerable overall. This was considered to be a particular concern when pupils were educated away from their main school, e.g. in work-based learning.

The area Ofsted felt to be the weakest aspect of provision in those schools visited was the extent and quality of training provided for staff. It did not always involve all the staff (including all member of the school support and site team) and was not provided systematically and monitored. In addition, although many schools had policies and procedures for e-safety, most of the schools did not review or evaluate these regularly and include input from stakeholders including pupils, families and governors.

Ofsted felt that the schools visited needed to focus more consistently on a number of important areas, including:

• developing a curriculum for e-safety which builds on what pupils have learnt before and which reflects their age and stage of development
• providing training which enables all staff, not just teachers, to support pupils
• helping families to keep their children safe

To do this, Ofsted felt that schools need more support from the Department for Children, Schools and Families, Becta, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) and local authorities, in developing and maintaining good practice.

The recommendations that Ofsted are now making to schools are that they should:

• audit the training needs of all staff and provide training to improve their knowledge of and expertise in the safe and appropriate use of new technologies
• work closely with all families to help them ensure that their children use new technologies safely and responsibly both at home and at school
• use pupils' and families' views more often to develop e-safety strategies
• manage the transition from locked down systems to more managed systems to help pupils understand how to manage risk; to provide them with richer learning experiences; and to bridge the gap between systems at school and the more open systems outside school
• provide an age-related, comprehensive curriculum for e-safety which enables all pupils to become safe and responsible users of new technologies
• work with their partners and other providers to ensure that pupils who receive part of their education away from school are e-safe
• systematically review and develop their e-safety procedures, including training, to ensure that they have a positive impact on pupils' knowledge and understanding.

The full report can be found here: http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Publications-and-research/Browse-all-by/Documents-by-type/Thematic-reports/The-safe-use-of-new-technologies  and includes details about the process and what some schools had implemented in order to achieve their grading. There are also some useful hints and tips which schools may find helpful!

 The BBC's education coverage can be seen here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8505914.stm

As a result of this report Kent County Council will be reviewing its current procedures and policies including a discussion about the use of ‘locked down' and ‘managed' systems in our Primary and Special schools.

We welcome any comments or views on how Kent County Council can help schools achieve an ‘outstanding' grading below.

Rebecca Avery, e-Safety Officer

"Lee and Kim's Adventures: Animal Magic". New KS1/Foundation Stage Resource

Lee and Kim's adventure is a cartoon which features Lee and his sister Kim playing on their favourite online game "Animal Magic".  The video explains the dangers of sharing personal information and introduces Superhero SID who protects children on the internet! The video includes SID's song which along with several lesson plans and activities (including mask, puppets, games and song sheets) can be downloaded separately.

These resources are suitable for Foundation Stage (Some content is still to be released) and Key Stage One - although adults and Key Stage Two children are sure to enjoy and learn from the show too!

You need to be registered at www.thinkuknow.co.uk/teachers to be able to download all the resources.

Version 3 Think U Know Presentation: KS3/4

The Think U Know presentation for 11 to 16 yr olds has been updated and re-launched. It includes sections on Sexting, Spim and Cyberbullying as well as new video content and has 5 supporting lesson plans to accompany the resource. To download all the 11-16 content you must be a registered Think U Know trainer.

New Online Surveys

Due to demand, CEOP are now providing online surveys for staff and students - links can be found below.

Hector's World survey (for teachers to complete) - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/hectorsworld

ThinkUKnow 8-10 survey (for pupils from 8-10 to complete) - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TUK8to10survey

ThinkUKnow 11-16 survey (for pupils from 11-16 to complete) - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TUK11to16survey

Also don't forget to register your plans for SID10 on the Activity Map!

• Check out 10 quick ideas for both PRIMARY and SECONDARY teachers around the theme of 'think before you post'.

• Childnet & SWGfL have devised 'think before you post' related drama activities and scenarios for SECONDARY audiences - "With Friends Like These" 

European Safer Internet Day (SID) 2010 istaking place on Tuesday 9th February. SID10 is be supported by countries throughout Europe and during the week (from Monday 8th February – Friday 12th February 2010), a range of activities will be taking place across the continent to help protect young people online. The theme for SID10 is ‘Think Before You Post’ and it is hoped that the whole week will be a week of action across Kent and in the UK.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) are the official UK hub for SID activities and you can visit Thinkuknow’s Safer Internet Day 2010 website at http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/saferinternetdayuk  

CEOP hope that these pages can help to identify regional and national activities that schools and staff may wish to promote or get involved with, as well as highlighting various resources (from CEOP and other organisations) that can be used to help raise awareness.

For further information about international activities for SID please visit http://www.saferinternetday.org

Make sure your school takes part in Safer Internet Day 2010 by registering your event on the Thinkuknow activity map! You can also let the e-Safety Officer know by commenting below about any events and activities planned, or via email  as the Kent Press Team are looking for schools and case studies with exciting plans to share experiences and ideas.

These virtual sessions offer schools the opportunity to host a parents evening with a presentation led by a Microsoft volunteer to inform and educate parents on the technology their children are using and how they can keep them safe when online.

These sessions are free and all you need is to be able to connect to the internet on a screen or whiteboard and parents will be able to see the presentation and any questions can be submitted.

For more information and to see how to book please follow this link or visit Microsoft's website directly here

For more information on SID 10 and to register activities taking place in your school visit www.thinkuknow.co.uk/saferinternetdayuk

Don't forget to let us know your plans for Safer Internet Day by commenting below or emailing the e-Safety officer: esafetyofficer@kent.gov.uk

These resources and web links were gathered together by the Advisory Service Kent's Primary ICT team and Kent's e-Safety Officer. If you have any suggestions for useful e-Safety websites which you've used or seen used successfully in the classroom, which could be added to the list then please comment below or email suggestions directly to esafetyofficer@kent.gov.uk

e-Safety in Research and e-Awareness

e-Safety in Communication

It has been bought to Kent County Council's attention that many Local Authorities are blocking a teaching resource website: www.sparklebox.co.uk.  Although this website is popular with schools, CEOP has issued a statement supporting both this action and the following statement from South West Grid for Learning: 

For this reason we feel it right to block the site centrally until more information is available and review whether this site should be blocked permanently after consulting schools and other sources.

Failure to block this site may place Schools or Kent County Council in a difficult position regarding duty of care. Should staff wish to continue using the website there is nothing to stop its use from home. We invite discussion from staff who may be concerned about this decision to discuss this on the e-Safety Blog (please note that this blog is moderated so your comment may not appear immediately).

CEOP (The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre) are inviting young people to create and post a video clip to show them what this statement means to you and why it is so important to be safe on the internet - make your entry as original, exciting or as edgy as you like. The clip can be anything you like - they want to know what you think!

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! 

The entries can be submitted  now and the closing date is 28^th January 2010.

For further details click here 

For more information on Safer Internet Day 2010 visit http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/saferinternetdayuk/

Facebook have recently ‘revamped' their Privacy Settings which they say will enable users to have more control over the information they share and post online.

These changes include:

•  A "simpler" Privacy page and some settings have been consolidated. For security reasons, you will now be required to enter your password to update your privacy settings.
• A privacy control has been added to the publisher at the top of your home and profile page. This allows users to set privacy on individual posts
• Instead of having networks for regions (e.g. London), people's locations are now listed in the "Current City" or "Current Region" field of their profiles. This means if you use the "Friends and Networks" privacy setting, the networks part only applies to work and school networks
• A basic set of information is publicly available, meaning it's visible to anyone that navigates to your profile. This includes applications you use on Facebook, and websites you connect with via Facebook. This information includes your name, profile picture, gender, current city, networks, friend list, and Pages. Any additional information (e.g. photos or videos) will only be exposed if your privacy settings allow it.
• There are now three basic levels of privacy: Friends, Friends of Friends, Everyone.

However these changes have already come under great criticism from users, digital rights groups and bloggers as it is felt that these new changes could be encouraging users to share more information with the wider web and becoming more visible online, which of course gives great concern to younger and possibly more vulnerable users and professionals who may be using Facebook.

See the BBC's report on the new Facebook settings here

It is strongly recommended that all Facebook users make sure they are aware of how to protect their profiles online with the new settings

So, what do the new Privacy Settings mean?

These new Privacy changes have meant that there is a of publicly available information available as default to Facebook and the wider web community, such as your Name, Profile Picture, Current City, Gender, Networks, Friend List and Pages.

Some tips:

• To prevent the basic level of information being shared online via search results you must restrict your search results to only being seen by "Friends" or remove/change the content. 
• To hide your friends list online you must click the pencil icon in the Friends box on your profile. Then, uncheck the "Show my friends on my profile" box. People who come to your profile will now not be able to see this information (Please note that applications can be still view and access your friends lists at this point).
• You can restrict your Profile Picture from being shared through Facebook via the Photo Album Privacy options by selecting the album called "Profile Pictures" and setting the option to "friends only"
• You can remove your profile from being displayed by public search engines in the Privacy settings under the "Search" option - uncheck the "Allow indexing" option

Facebook recommends that ‘Everyone' should be able to see information that they say will make it easier for friends to find and identify you, which includes information like your About Me description, Family and Relationships, Work and Education Info and Website, posts that you make, photo albums and status updates. They do remind users that by using the "Everyone" option then the information will be seen by others on the internet or others who view your profile, but will this be recognised by young people?

Facebook do recommend that personal information such as Birthdays, photos and pictures you've been tagged in etc can only be seen by "Friends of Friends" (this is the new default setting) and that information such as phone numbers etc can only be seen by friends. This however doesn't take into account that we don't always know who our friends are friends with and sometimes people accept friend's requests from strangers to access games or to appear to be popular.  This could have potentially disastrous effects for young people and staff (e.g. if colleagues have accepted young people onto friend's lists etc)  as friends of friends may be able to access more information than under the previous settings.

For users whose profile says they are under 18 then the Privacy settings are slightly different. Both adults and under 18s have publicly available information (name, profile picture, gender, current city, networks, Friend List, Pages etc)  but the "Everyone" setting works differently for under 18's. When under 18's set information like photos or status updates to be visible to "Everyone," that information is only visible to their friends, friends of friends, and people in any school or networks they have joined. Under 18's do not have public search listing created for them, so they do not appear in outside search engines (such as google) until they have turned 18.

This setting will however rely on the fact that a user hasn't lied about their age when they began using Facebook. (We are already aware of the growing numbers of young people, as young as 9 ho use Social Networking, 70% of 9-19's according to Ofcom, and a recent survey by Netmums with Professor Tanya Byron found that three quarters of children secretly visit social networking sites without their parents' permission.)

 So what next?

We strongly recommend that all Facebook users, young people, parents/carers and staff go through the new privacy settings and carefully consider the information posted online to ensure we aren't sharing any information with the web that we don't want or need to.

Facebook's new guidance on Privacy can be found here 

FAQ's about the new Privacy Settings can be found here 

Facebook have posted some video tutorials here

NB: Please note that this post may be amended according to any future changes Facebook may make to the Privacy settings.

Any comments or discussions will be gladly received!

Today 300 delegates from across government, industry, law enforcement and the third sector will attend the UKCCIS Summit in London for the launch of the first Child Internet Safety Strategy and  Digital Code for internet safety. 

• For the first time ever, internet companies, charities and the Government will be independently reviewed against new UKCCIS standards to keep children and young people safe online
• Young people and parents will be targeted by a new Digital Code ‘Zip it, Block it, Flag it’ - the ‘Green Cross Code’ for internet safety. This will be adopted by retailers, social networking sites, schools and charities and displayed where appropriate
• Parents will be able to access a one-stop shop website for internet safety advice hosted by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre (CEOP)
• From September 2011 online safety will be a compulsory part of the curriculum from age 5; and
• Professor Tanya Byron will review the Council’s progress, beginning in January 2010

 

• All 270,000 computers to be provided under the Government’s Home Access scheme will incorporate the CEOP Advice, Help, Report button, to help children and their families quickly report inappropriate content or internet approaches from strangers as well as get help and advice on issues such as cyberbullying, viruses and hacking.
• Government will lead the way globally, by exploring how child internet safety can be improved through the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)

To download  “Click Clever Click Safe: The First Child Internet Safety Strategy” click here

For more details on the Launch and promotional material click here 

To hear Professor Byron speak to BBC news about the new strategy click here

Share your views and ideas of the New "Green Cross Code" for the internet "Zip it, Block it, Flag it"

This year's campaign ‘Stay safe in cyberspace' offers schools a wealth of opportunities to explore the serious issue of cyberbullying. As with all bullying, the experience of being cyberbullied can be very painful for those who are the targets. Schools and communities can use Anti-Bullying Week 2009 to address issues around cyberbullying in a positive way, involving the whole school community in tackling the problem.

To help plan for Anti-Bullying Week 2009, ABA has sent a resource pack to every school in the country. The pack is full of essential information to support anti-bullying work, and the materials and complementary online resources highlight links to the national curriculum. The resource pack is also available to download from the ABA website

The resource pack includes advice for parents and carers on how to deal with cyberbullying, a summary of the DCSF guidance on cyberbullying, ideas from Young ABA for children and young people, stickers and an order form for ABA pin badges, logobugs, pencils and posters highlighting this year's theme.

Additional guidance is also available for Further Education colleges, including guidance for senior management and student support teams, and anti-bullying tutorial sessions

Beat Bullying resources

The charity Beatbullying are also inviting schools and young people to take part in a competition to design a new "Cybermentors Widget" for the Cybermentors website, during anti-bullying week.

The competition deadline is 5pm on Friday 27th November 2009 and entries can be posted or emailed to beat bullying. Winners will be announced on the CyberMentors and Beatbullying websites the following week. The completion template, examples and entry details can be found here

Beatbullying have also launched a set of lesson plans, activities and assemblies for schools to use during anti-bullying week which are available here

Further information on online bullying is  also available on the Becta website and on the Next Generation Learning site.

Tell us your plans!

Are you or your school taking part in anti-bullying week? If so, share your plans or ideas on the e-Safety blog

 Vodafone.com/parents bringings together a wide range of topics in one place. Divided into two sections, 'Get to grips with technology' and 'Get involved and stay in control', it offers up-to-date guidance on issues such as children's excessive use of technology, managing their presence in social media, access to location technology, cyber-bullying and the risks of meeting strangers online.

Carrie Longton, co-founder of Mumsnet, said: "With technology developing at such an incredible pace, it's great that Vodafone has produced an online resource to help us understand it.  The feedback from the parents on Mumsnet was very positive and many felt they learned a huge amount while they were testing the site."

Professor Tanya Byron highlighted the generational divide between parents and their children in her 2008 Review "Safer Internet in a Digital Age" and noted that parents do not feel equipped to help their children in the digital world. She commented that they "...either under estimate or do not realise how often children come across potentially harmful and inappropriate material on the internet and are often unsure what they would do about it" and said that this generational divide can lead to fear and a sense of helplessness.

Annie Mullins OBE, Global Head of Content Standards at Vodafone, who led the development of the website, comments: "Many parents tell us that they are baffled by what their children are doing be it on their on their mobile, on Facebook or via their iphones. They say it's hard to keep up with the pace of change.  Their desire is to get simple, clear information on everyday matters, such as knowing what age a child should be given a mobile or setting the rules for using Facebook, and very practical advice about what to do. Our new Parents' Guide empowers parents as they face the challenges of the 'Twitter generation'"

Young People and Privacy

Ofcom today published research showing 54 per cent of 11-16 year olds in the UK say young people need advice about how to keep their personal information online private.

Many children and young people also believe that information is needed on how to keep security information such as password and PIN numbers safe (28 per cent), how to avoid inappropriate content online (22 per cent) and how to deal with cyberbullying (20 per cent).

Nearly a quarter of children and young people stated that they wouldn't know what they would do if they encountered ‘inappropriate material' on their mobile phone (25 per cent) or games console (22 per cent).  

The majority of 7-16 year olds say they have received some information about staying safe online (74 per cent).  But 23 per cent say no-one has talked to them about online safety

The full summary of the research can be found here 

 New Parental Guidence

Ofcom has also published two new guides for parents and carers on how to use parental controls on mobile phones, games consoles and portable media players and, if they need to, how to report inappropriate content.

The guide for parents and carers on parental access controls on mobile phones can be found here 

The guide for parents and carers on parental access controls on games consoles and portable media players can be found here

 Ofcom previously produced a guide about managing media for children and young people (Digital TV etc) which can be found here

Children's Minister Delyth Morgan yesterday launched a new facility on myguide, a free and easy-to-use tool to help parents and carers catch up with their children when it comes to the Internet.

"myguide" helps provide the next step in the Government's implementation of Dr Tanya Byron's review of internet safety. myguide can be used independently, with the support of a friend or family member, or with help from experts in one of the thousands of UK online centres based in libraries and community organisations.

The updates to myguide now includean interactive guidance course and quiz to help families manage the risks while enjoying the benefits of the web. It includes many of the top parental concerns about the internet, from phishing and spam to online rogue traders and extremist websites, from chat rooms to music file-sharing, and from stealth marketing to safety filters. The site stresses the importance of open family discussions and where to go for additional information and help.

Launching the new resource, Children’s Minister Delyth Morgan said: "Today's generation of children and young people are often much more computer savvy than their parents, something that can be of great concern as mums, dads and carers look to keep their children safe online without restricting their enthusiasm for and exploration of the Internet. The free myguide service is designed specifically for people in this situation. The new Family Internet Safety guide will help people become more knowledgeable about the risks and how to manage them. It will be particularly useful for the many thousands of parents who will be participating in the Home Access programme when it is rolled out nationally from the end of the year. myguide will be an important part of the support for the programme to help parents make effective use of the Home Access computers and Internet connectivity to support their children's learning."

Commenting, Dr Tanya Byron, author of the review, Safer Children in a Digital World, said:  "Parents need to be internet-confident to be able to help their children manage its risks and make the most of its opportunities. Since my Review, the Government has made good progress on making my recommendations a reality. The UK Council for Children's Internet Safety (UKCCIS) has been established, advice has been published for parents on Social Networking, and a new set of resources, 'Know IT All for primary teachers', has been launched to help schools keep young children safe online. Now, another gap has been filled with the new myguide resource. This means that parents just beginning to learn about the internet can from the outset learn how to keep their children safe and savvy online."

A Worcestershire teenager is thought to be the first person in Britain jailed for social network bullying after threatening to kill someone on Facebook.

In jailing 18-year-old Keeley Houghton up for three months in a young offenders institution, District Judge Bruce Morgan described the online bullying of 18-year-old Emily Moore as "warped" and "nasty" after hearing how she had been targeted on the popular site. He stated "Since Emily Moore was 14 you have waged compelling threats and violent abuse towards her. Bullies are by their nature cowards, in school and society. The evil, odious effects of being bullied stay with you for life."

Houghton sobbed throughout the hearing at Worcester Magistrates today as it was described how she had targeted Miss Moore for four years since they had been at school together, and had left the message on Facebook saying she was going to "murder" her and other abusive messages.

Miss Moore stated "I am so relieved. My blood used to run cold reading her comments. Her abuse consumed my every waking moment for the past four years. I got so scared I couldn't even turn on the computer."

As well as the three-month term of detention, Houghton was given a restraining order banning her from contacting Miss Moore in person, via the internet or in any other manner for five years. Read more on the case here

This case is a landmark in the fight against cyberbullying, as Internet users have previously been jailed for harassment on social networking sites but Houghton is the first to be convicted of bullying via the internet.

Emma-Jane Cross, chief executive of charity Beatbullying, said the sentencing was the first of its kind in the UK. She said although cyber-bullying is increasing, the government, networking sites like Facebook and charities should work together to tackle the problem of bullying generally.

"The sentencing of an 18-year-old girl for cyberbullying is the first of its kind in the UK and sets an important precedent. Cyber-bullying is a worrying and fast-growing trend which can be more harmful than typical schoolyard bullying. However, the solution is not to limit young people's internet access and phone usage, instead, social networking sites like Facebook, along with the Government and charities like Beatbullying, must work together to tackle the real root of the problem - the bullying itself."

If you or someone you know has been effected by Cyberbullying then visit the Cybermentors site for advice and information.

Childnet are considering suggestions for new video guides so send requests in to Kidsmart or contact or follow them via twitter 

I've put in a request for a Facebook guide as it seems to be very popular with young people in Kent Schools, including those under 13 despite the minimum age limit imposed under COPPA (the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act).

Schools frequently ask me how we can discuss the safe use of sites such as Facebook, Bebo and MSN with under 13s, without being seen to be promoting them (and the fact they are nearly always filtered in educational settings).  I think the Skills School could be seen as one possible alternative due to its impartiality and ease of use with young people and adults. It's a resource that can be recommended to young people and their parents if a concern is raised or be used as part of a PSHE or ICT scheme of work/session.

The Kent Video "Be Safe e-Safe" was also launched to be aimed at transition aged students who might be using social networking sites without considering the dangers. The video is available to watch online here and the hard copy version contains 3 guides to MSN, Facebook and Bebo. A copy was sent to all Schools in Kent and Medway but to request a copy contact the e-Safety Officer  (please note number are extremely limited).

The offline risks of terrorism and violent extremism are well-known, and these are mirrored online. Terrorists and violent extremists exploit the internet for both operational purposes and as a tool for radicalisation and recruitment. This represents a serious risk to vulnerable individuals using the internet.

The Office for Security and Counter Terrorism in the Home Office has produced a document "Safeguarding online - Explaining the risk posed by violent extremism" which explains the risks posed by violent extremist material on the internet. The leaflet provides case studies, highlights legal issues and offers advice to individuals and schools on how to protect vulnerable individuals from this type of material.

The Attorney General's Youth Network encourages young people to understand and respect the law, and contribute to citizenship education (including increasing understanding of the justice system and of an individual's rights and responsibilities).

 A competition is being launched to encourage young people to explore issues on citizenship and the rule of law. The competition and development of an Attorney General's Youth Advisory Council, as part of the Youth Network activities, is designed to involve young people aged 14-18 in the processes of government and law. Through the Attorney general's Youth Advisory Council, young people will be encouraged to share an open dialogue to discuss opinions/ideas on relevant matters within the state and their local communities.

 The competition closes at midnight on 16th September.  A panel will select up to 30 top entries selected, the winning entrants will be invited to become members of the Attorney General's Youth Advisory Council. The first meeting of the Youth Advisory Council will be held by November, and those selected will be announced on the 22nd September at a launch event in London. The top three entries will receive an Attorney General award. This is the chance to be recognised and to make a real difference. The Attorney General will write to those selected for the Attorney General Youth Advisory Council, their head teachers and local MP's congratulating them on their achievement.

 (Please note that if you are short listed for the top entries your entry may be featured on the website or other publicised material.)

 Youth Advisory Council role and key aims

Key Aims: ‘Leading and Influencing Change'

• To involve young people in the processes of government and law, and facilitate and promote dialogue, bringing a real and fresh perspective about youth issues.

Role:

• To consult with young people and local community groups on legal issues and policies that concerns young people.

• To collect, analyse & provide the Attorney General with information on issues and policies in law concerning young people.

• To consider methods to resolve youth-related conflicts

• To partner with local organisations on shared issues

• To prepare for youth leadership through participation

• To propose recommendations to improve the lives of young people

• Meetings will be held with the Attorney General at least twice each year.

Young people can visit www.youtube.com/agyouthnet<http://www.youtube.com/agyouthnet> for more information and to submit their entries.

Kind Regards,

 CEOP Education Team

 8th September 2009: Insafe Back-to-School campaign

 Insafe will celebrate the entry to the new school year and mark international literacy day with a brand new portal for increased interactivity. At its launch, the portal will feature information and activities for students and pupils and guide them to the national language websites of the 27 countries that make up the Insafe network. A blog and forum will provide a new platform for teachers to share their ideas and concerns, and the "safety issues" on the current site will be revamped to provide customized information and resources. Watch the Insafe site for more news.

 The e-Safety kit will go online in September 2009 after the success of Insafe's e-Safety toolkit (with over 320,000 copies disseminated across more than 15 countries), this resource for families and primary schools will become available online at http://www.esafetykit.net/ or directly through the Insafe portal. Initially the toolkit will be available in 6 languages, but the online version will gradually become available in more languages to provide monthly safety tips and fun activities as well as printable work sheets for teachers.

22^nd and 23^rd October: Safer Internet Forum 2009

This will take place in Luxembourg on 22nd and 23rd October and its main theme will be "Promoting internet safety in schools". The Forum will be open for stakeholders from NGOs, governments, researchers, industry representatives, including Internet Service Providers, mobile network operators, social networking sites, software developers. The Safer Internet Forum will be preceded by the INSAFE Pan-European Youth Panel and a Teachers' Panel. Both meetings will take place on 21 October in Luxembourg and will be closed to the public. The main conclusions of both the Youth and the Teachers' Panel will be presented during the Safer Internet Forum. For further information and registration to the Safer Internet Forum visit http://www.ec.europa.eu/saferinternet 

January 28th 2010: Data Protection Day 2010:

"Think Privacy" is the title of the 2nd annual DPD competition which encourages young people to reflect on their rights to privacy and data protection in today's information society. The challenge is for 15 to 19 year-olds to create a multi-media poster (anything from a talking poster to a video or powerpoint) illustrating their viewpoint; the prizes include trips to Brussels for the DPD award ceremony. Places are available at the event for school classes wishing to organize a visit to Brussels to coincide with the event which will be held in an EU institutional venue. For further information visit www.dataprotectionday.eu

9^th February 2010: Safer Internet Day:

Under the theme "Think before you post", SID 2010 will focus on how we're managing images online and consequently, how we deal with privacy in digital environments. Insafe will be launching a pan-European quiz on 1st February, targeting two age-groups: 5-11 and 12-15 year-olds. The quiz will be open to individuals or school classes who will compete with the objective of becoming increasingly aware of their role in protecting themselves and others online. An online SID Fair will showcase participating organizations across the world, and schools are invited to register the events they will be running to mark the day. .Information on Safer Internet Day will gradually become available on www.saferinternet.org from September.