Internet safety: Parents get wise on the web

Summary
EverybodyOnline actively promotes the joys of the World Wide Web on a regular basis. However, whilst the Internet is a wonderful thing, safety for both children and adults is vital.
Lucy Ethel, coordinator for the Liverpool 8 project, organised a practical session on Internet safety for the parents of children attending a local school.
 
What happened?
Lucy teamed up with Kingsley Community School to host a session around internet safety for the parents of children who attend the school.  To facilitate the event Lucy used elements of the ‘Parents Online’ toolkit, an Internet learning resource designed by the EverybodyOnline Hub.  As well as practical online activities, the interactive session included active discussion between parents around ways in which they could ensure their children’s safety whilst using the Internet. Parents were also encouraged to actively surf the Internet during the session to find sites that promoted Internet safety.

By the end of the session many parents were aware of issues they did not even know had existed, and had learnt different ways of supporting their children’s use of the Internet. All the participants planned to use the information learnt at the session back at home; including agreeing with their children to produce an ‘Online Code of Conduct’.

The parents found the online safety session informative and accessible. Many of the parents had heard media stories about online chat rooms and websites that had caused them concern, but by gaining a better understanding of the risks, the parents felt that they and their children could surf the net more confidently.

Samsam Salah who attended the event thanked Lucy and Kingsley School for providing the opportunity to learn about web safety, “I think today has made us all realise just how important it is to ensure that children are safe whilst surfing the Internet”.

Key Achievements

• All parents vowed to put what they had learnt into practice
• By being informed and gaining a better understanding about the risks of the Internet, parents felt more confident about Internet safety
• Some of the parents expanded their ICT skills.

• Parents gave 100% positive feedback on the learning session

Date: June 2007