SUPPORTING THE SAFE AND ETHICAL USE OF ICT
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ICT (Information and Communication Technology) plays an imperative role in the lives and overall lifestyle of young people. Society as a whole must be aware that there are insecurities and hazards associated with 21st century technologies, and as parents and caregivers it is vital that you have the tools to ensure that your child is a safe, ethical user of technology. As part of the Australian Curriculum’s (2015) General Capabilities, Information and Communication Technology (ITC) capability students must earn on the side of caution and must use ICT effectively and appropriately to access, create and communicate information and ideas, solve problems and work collaboratively in all learning areas at school, and in their lives beyond the school experience.
Included below is vital information to help you understand how important these issues are and also what steps you can take to assist your child with these issues.
Before you start you may want to complete a short Cyber Safety Checklist and learn more about Speaking to Your Child About Cyber Safety.
LEARN MORE:
Office of the Children’s safety Commissioner – Parental Controls
Internet Safety Rules
Share these THINKUKNOW (2015) Cyber Safety tips with your child:
- Don’t share too much information online (LEARN MORE)
- Have STRONG passwords or passphrases (LEARN MORE)
- Make sure that your online friends are people you know in real life, you trust and are people you actually want to talk to (LEARN MORE)
- Make sure social networking profiles are set to ‘private’ or ‘friends only’ (LEARN MORE)
- Avoid clicking on links in emails, they could be spam or scams (LEARN MORE)
- Think before you post—your digital reputation is VERY important, once it is on the internet it is there forever (LEARN MORE)
Strangers Online
Engaging with strangers is a potential danger associated with using the Internet, it is vital that your child understands that anyone met exclusively online is an unknown contact. They may not be communicating with the person they think they are and this may have potentially dangerous consequences.
TIP: Never engage in conversation online with anyone that you do not know
LEARN MORE:
Avoiding or Exiting Inappropriate Sites Online (including spam emails, popups, prize offers and unfamiliar links).
All of the above may attempt to defraud you of money, aid in identity theft or disrupt how your computer operates. Here are some tips to advise your children to avoid this:
- Delete emails from people you do not know without opening or responding to them
- Do not give out your email address or mobile phone number
- Never click on a link in an email or web page and type the address into the browser yourself
- Install and maintain anti-virus and anti-spyware software on all your devices
- Be aware that sometimes spam emails may look like they have come from someone you know, however, if it looks or sounds unusual, delete it
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Following Social Protocols and Guidelines using ITC
It is important for your child to be able to identify and value the rights to identity, privacy and emotional safety for themselves and others, as well as have an understanding of accepted protocols.
Such as:
- Forwarding personal communications from friends only with permission
- being aware of differences in meanings of terms and concepts due to culture
- recognising when others are being cyber bullied
LEARN MORE:
In class we have watched this video called ‘Tagged’ a resource from the Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner (2015) about sexting and digital reputation, feel free to watch it to understand and learn the dangers with technology!
Recognising Inappropriate Behavior
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is the use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated and hostile behavior by an individual or group, which is intended to harm(www.cyberbullying.org, 2015).
Here are some tips for addressing Cyberbullying:
- Encourage your child to support their friends who are being cyberbullied and encourage them to tell a trusted adult
- Create an environment in which your child is comfortable coming to you with any issues they face online without fear of having their devices confiscated
- Talk with your child about appropriate forms of conflict resolution so that they do not resort to cyberbullying
LEARN MORE:
Click here to REPORT CYBERBULLYING
Sexting
‘Sexting’ is the sharing of sexually explicit images or messages. This content may damage the relationships and reputation of your child or others, lead to offline confrontation or even result in criminal charges. Legally, if the person represented in the image or text is under the age of 18, it can be considered ‘child pornography’ under Commonwealth and State or Territory legislation. These offences can carry significant penalties and can even result in a young person being listed on a sex offender’s registry.
Here are some tips for avoiding sexting:
- Discuss ethical sexual relationships with your child
- Take a social norms approach—highlight that only a minority of young people engage in sexting and that your child should not feel pressured to do the same as an attempt to ‘fit in’
- Help your child understand that if they receive an image of someone, it’s not their photo or their body, and therefore not their choice to share it
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Recognizing and Preventing Security Risks Associated with Communication Devices
Any device or app when used incorrectly has the potential to cause harm. It is important that you communicate with your child about how they are using a device or application and the legal and ethical ramifications of inappropriate use. They also need to be aware of the dangers of communicating with people they do not know via any device or app.
Acting Responsibly by Caring for Their Identity and Others’ Identities and Personal Information
We have already looked briefly at why personal information must be protected, however we must also be aware that it is everyone’s responsibility to ensure others identities are protected also. It is important to advise your child that they should never provide any personal information, about themselves and others online.
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Acknowledging When Using a Digital Product Created by Someone Else
It is important for students to understand that the work found online is the property of someone else and therefore they should acknowledge the original author, if not they are plagiarizing. Plagiarism means to take and use another person’s ideas and or manner of expressing them and to pass them off as your own by failing to give appropriate acknowledgment (Monash University, 2015).
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DID YOU KNOW?
Social networking apps such as Facebook, Kik, Snapchat and Instagram have age restrictions for anyone under 13 years old!
Here is some esafety information for popular social networking sites:
For more information about other social networking sites CLICK HERE!