Keeping young people safe online

Published: Monday, 4th February 2019

As part of Internet Safety Day on Tuesday 5 February, the Sevenoaks District Community Safety Partnership is visiting local schools to offer advice on staying safe online.

The partnership is delivering three different projects targeted at pupils of different ages.

A session written by Childnet International is being delivered to the District’s three secondary schools. It covers the sensitive issue of sharing sexually explicit messages or photos amongst 11 to 16 year olds.

The sessions includes a play in which students will be asked to step into the shoes of characters and to think about the consequences of creating and sending indecent images. The students can decide their own ending, taking into account what they have learnt.

A competition to design a screensaver for vulnerable people to safe online will also run at primary schools.

The final initiative is to ask schoolchildren to take part in the Digital Sunset Challenge that was launched last year. Matthew Scott, the Police and Crime Commissioner, will speak with pupils St Pauls Primary School Swanley, encouraging them to ditch their devices before bedtime.

The scheme invites children and their families to put their smartphones away early in the evening during the Challenge week. They make a note of the time they stopped using their devices, when they went to bed and how they felt the next day.

Our Cabinet Member for Economic and Community Development, Cllr Roddy Hogarth, says: “It is vital that young people understand the importance of online safety. These workshops are an enlightening and engaging way to put a very serious message across.”

“The Digital Sunset Challenge is a great initiative that helps parents, as well as children, think about how much they use their smart devices and what affect this may be having on them.”