Today (Tuesday 7 February 2017) 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.
Council Leader Rhondda Geekie, who also chairs the Community Planning Partnership and Health & Social Care Partnership believes this is an important message and timely reminder for young people and their parents/carers.
She said “The nature of the internet is such that people, particularly young people, need to be kept aware of the potential dangers online. There are many age appropriate resources available 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.”
There are a number of resources available, with specific information for parents/carers, teachers and for young people themselves. The partners involved in the East Dunbartonshire Child Protection Committee are all sharing this information to promote Safer Internet Day and encourage everyone to make sure that they stay safe online:
http://www.saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/2017
Police Scotland has been working with 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 added, “CEOP is the Child Exploitation and Protection Online Centre and they also provide 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 in advance of Internet Safety Day 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. Assemblies in schools are also being arranged with input from Community Police Officers to help raise awareness of the importance of internet safety with young people.
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