Today (Tuesday 5 February 2019) is Safer Internet Day and a great opportunity to remind young people and their carers of how to stay safe online. East Dunbartonshire’s Child Protection Committee has been raising awareness of internet safety to coincide with this national day.
Joint Council Leader Vaughan Moody, who also chairs the Community Planning Partnership believes this is an important message and timely reminder for young people and their parents/carers.
He said “Safer Internet Day is an opportunity to again raise awareness of the potential dangers online. There are many age appropriate resources available for both primary and secondary school aged children and we would encourage all parents and carers to be aware of what their children are doing online and to have conversations with them to ensure that they stay safe.”
Joint Council Leader Andrew Polson added, “There are many resources available, with specific information for parents/carers, teachers and for young people themselves. The partners in the East Dunbartonshire Child Protection Committee are sharing this information through schools and community groups to promote Safer Internet Day and encourage everyone to make sure that they stay safe online.”
The UK Safer Internet Centre promote Safer Internet Day in February each year and their website contains a wealth of invaluable information:
safer-internet-day/2019
Police Scotland’s local campus officers continue to work with secondary schools across the area to provide information and guidance for schools to share with parents and carers and with young people through assemblies and class discussions.
Inspector Ewan Henderson of Police Scotland explained, “CEOP is the Child Exploitation and Protection Online Centre and their website provides some excellent online resources for specific target audiences, including young people themselves. If anyone is worried about online abuse or the way that someone is communicating online it is also very easy to report this through the website.”
The CEOP Child Protection website can be found at https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/
Information on Safer Internet Day 2019 with useful website links, has been distributed to all schools in the area and parents/carers will be provided with information on the resources available to help them to keep their young people safe.
Follow us on Twitter @EDCouncil or like us on Facebook