ONLINE SAFETY

Online/e-Safety is an important part of keeping children safe and Our Lady of Lourdes RCPS has extensive security measures in place to help safeguard pupils from potential dangers or unsuitable material.

e-Safety is taught to all children; explaining and demonstrating how to stay safe and behave appropriately online.  However, we can only be successful in keeping children safe online if we work with parents to ensure the e-Safety message is consistent.

It is important that parents speak to their children about how they can keep safe and behave appropriately online. It is essential to be realistic, the internet and technological advancements are here to stay; banning them will not work - often it makes a child less likely to report a problem.  Education around safe use is therefore essential.

Some tips for you to help keep your children safe online

• Consider locating your computer or mobile devices in a family area where children’s online activity can be monitored or supervised. 
• Talk to your child and ask them to show or even teach you how they use the internet and learn about websites or tools they like to use and why.
• Make sure your child knows it’s important that they tell an adult they trust if anything happens online that makes them feel scared, worried or uncomfortable.   
• Remind children that they should use the same caution online as they would in the real world.  Tell them they should never go to meet someone they have only spoken to online.
• Install antivirus software, secure your internet connection and use Parental Control functions for computers, mobile phones and games consoles to block unsuitable content or contact.
• Familiarise yourself with the age limits of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram etc.  There’s an age limit in place for a reason, if you decide to allow your children on to these sites make sure you know how they can protect themselves while using these sites – for example knowing how to set appropriate privacy settings.