The internet can be a great place – one where you can share ideas, interests and pictures of dogs wearing hats. But it also has a darker side, and can become a wormhole of trolling and abuse, with graphic content just a click away.
Nonetheless, it is a place where your students will spend their time – and probably quite a lot of it. Although they can be savvy when it comes to getting around filters (as this cartoon from headteacher Ollie Bray demonstrates), they can also be surprisingly naive about the web.
My students used to present me with a hilarious stream of wild conspiracy theories about the illuminati and all manner of inside jobs, deemed valid because they had been found “on a website”. Less amusing were the numerous tales of Facebook bullying, with private messages copied and shared with alarming regularity.
In the age of the tablet and smartphone, we need to accept that largely unrestricted access to the internet is common for many young people, and our approach should reflect this. As Lauren Seager-Smith, the national coordinator of the Anti-Bullying Alliance, explains: “E-safety does not simply lie in technological solutions. Although these approaches can help, ultimately it comes back to changing hearts and minds; making children aware that at the end of each tweet and post is a human being.”
The Anti-Bullying Alliance joined forces with internet security company McAfee to produce a series of videos on the topic, looking at how and why cyberbullying occurs; advice for students to protect themselves and tips to pass on to parents about steps they can take at home. Teenager Hannah Smith killed herself in 2013 after anonymous bullies targeted her on social media site ask.fm. Her story can be used to prompt conversations in class about the way anonymity affects how we interact online.
We also need to make sure that students understand that what they post on the internet will stay there, possibly forever. Several teachers have created their own internet safety experiments to show classes how far and fast Facebook posts can be spread – one has received nearly 25,000 shares and almost a million likes so far.
This video from Common Sense Media gives students five basic rules for engaging with social media, including switching on privacy settings and turning off location tracking features that harvest data (covered in more – quite scary – detail in this Guardian video).
Common Sense has also created videos explaining how the most popular apps and sites work, so if you have ever found yourself wondering what Snapchat, Vine and Instagram are, these are a good place to start your education.
Sharing real-life examples of internet incidents can be a powerful way of showing students what can happen in the wake of an ill-considered picture or status update. Jon Ronson’s book So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed has several examples of internet nightmares, including the story of charity worker Lindsey Stone, whose friend posted an image of her swearing near a war memorial and became the subject of a Facebook campaign that led to her losing her job. Get your students to consider her actions and the outcry that followed – were her employers right to respond as they did? And what should she do now that anyone who searches for her will find out about the incident?
For older students (aged 16-19), this guide from IntoFilm uses the films InRealLife and Trust to prompt debate and discussion about internet habits and the impact these can have on their lives and wellbeing. For primary pupils, this toolkit offers an accessible guide to online safety using the films Harriet the Spy and The Thief Lord, covering issues such as false identities, leaked information and what it is appropriate to share.
There are a number of picture books available online (and in print) for key stage 1 students, including the tale of Digiduck, who shares a nasty picture of a friend, and Smartie the penguin, who runs into trouble with his new computer.
The ever-brilliant Horrible Histories tackles similar themes in a sidelong way, with Lady Jane Grey clicking a dodgy link and getting spammed; a prudish Victorian lying about his age and stumbling across scandalous content (ladies without gloves); and Guy Fawkes learning a valuable lesson about privacy settings as his plot fizzles out.
The crucial issue of privacy is also covered in this detailed debate resource for key stage 5 students from Debating Matters, addressing the motion “In a digital age we should not expect our online activities to remain private”. It explores online sharing in a personal and societal context, with extensive reading material including news stories and background information.
The British Library’s digital Magna Carta project offers students the chance to vote on hundreds of rules that could be applied to the online world. The submissions are from young people across the age spectrum, and cover ideas from whether prisoners should have internet access, to free, legal downloads of all media (another key topic, which is covered in more detail in this information pack from Childnet International).
And it’s just as important for staff to keep abreast of the ever-changing world of the web. The UK Safer Internet Centre has collated a huge selection of resources, including this guidance on Ofsted’s new focus on online safety and advice on what to do if you experience online bullying.
The key message, ultimately, is that the internet is like any other space – it requires an understanding of appropriate behaviour. Students don’t need to be scared, they just need to stay sharp. Then we can all enjoy the dog pictures.
- In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. Hotlines in other countries can be found here.