Teaching online defence

The fact that the internet, and in particular smartphone mobile technology is used so prolifically by pupils is not necessarily a bad thing. From an educator’s point of view the internet offers great benefits and can be used to enhance their pupils’ learning experience. It can provide teaching materials, be the source of information for pupils’ research projects, and in some cases even allow children to expand their horizons by interacting with peers around the world through Skype link ups with other schools.

From a child’s point of view, in addition to the information and entertainment they can get from the internet and mobile technology, both of these allow them to easily communicate with their friends. At the NSPCC we also see how going online can provide children with another way to access advice and support – in 2011/12 ChildLine, our confidential helpline service for children and young people, received more than 217,000 online contacts. Children tell us that it is sometimes easier to ask for support in this way – they are willing to communicate online whereas they would find it too difficult to make a call.

KNOW THE RISKS
Alongside the opportunities brought by the internet and mobile technology however, come risks. Pupils are often either unaware of these, or do not know how to manage them. Schools are uniquely placed to engage with children and young people about how to stay safe online. However across schools practice remains variable, with some having excellent e-safety teaching programmes, whereas others do not see this as an area to focus on.

This article focuses both on risks posed to the pupils by the internet and mobile technology, and also sets out some recommendations based on NSPCC research and that of others into how schools can ensure they are doing what they can to help their pupils protect themselves.

WHAT ARE THE DANGERS?
The key risks associated with the internet and mobile technology are outlined below. In this section the risk focused on most is that of young people sharing explicit images or “sexting” because we know from research E 
F this is an area in which pupils need more support, but that both they and teachers can find it difficult to speak about.

The dangers include accessing harmful content on the internet. Children may deliberately or accidentally access pornography or other upsetting material such as violent images while using the internet. Around 10 – 15 per cent of 8-15 year olds who use the internet at home have reported seeing something that made them sad or embarrassed (EU Kids Online).

Sharing personal information with strangers is another risk. According to Ofcom around 20 per cent of eight to 15-year-olds with social networking profiles have them set to open, allowing strangers easy access to their photographs, personal details and information about where they will be. Even those who do not have open profiles may be willing to befriend people they do not know online and be manipulated into giving more information about themselves. In some cases this may lead on to online grooming.

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
Online grooming is another danger. This is where someone builds up a relationship with a child, with a view to abusing them at a later stage. This may be through a variety of methods including flattery and bribery. The potential abuser may lie to the child about themself, for example pretending to be younger or better off than they are. They may go on to encourage the child or young person to meet with them in person for the purposes of abusing them, or ask them to send sexual images.

Cyber-bullying is another danger. This is when a person or a group of people use the internet, mobile phones, online games or any other kind of digital technology to threaten, tease, upset or humiliate someone else. In 2011/12 ChildLine received more than 2,500 calls from children who were being cyber-bullied – a seven per cent increase on the previous year. The cyber-bullying may be an extension of the face to face bullying suffered by a child, or could be separate – in some cases the cyber-bullying may even be anonymous. The particularly disturbing feature of cyber-bullying is its pervasive nature – it can take place at anytime and in any place, including their home, leaving the child or young person to feel there is no escape.

Sending sexually explicit images or messages/sexting is another risk. It is important to recognise that this itself can be a form of cyber-bullying, particularly for girls. Often this point is missed with those pressuring others (generally boys pressuring girls) to share the images presenting it as ‘a bit of fun.’ Often this risk in particular is one that young people often do not get enough support with – in part because they, their parents and teachers can all find it embarrassing to speak about.

INVESTIGATING THE PROBLEM
The NSPCC’s May 2012 report ‘A qualitative study of children, young people and sexting’ looked into the impact of sexting by speaking with pupils at two schools in London. The research showed that there can be great pressure put on girls to send sexual messages or images of themselves to boys at the school. If the girl gives into the pressure this image may be circulated or shown to people other than the recipient, leading to the girl herself being denigrated as a ‘slut.’ If she does not, the girls in our study said the boys may become angry and in some cases spread false rumours about them anyway. Boys on the other hand are affected differently in that they are ‘rated’ by the amount of sexual images or messages they receive from girls and if they do not participate in this practice, risk being excluded by their peers or labelled as ‘gay.’

Many of the girls seemed aware that sending a sexually explicit message or being filmed performing a sex act meant there was a likelihood that this would be widely circulated. However it was clear that this was not a risk that everyone was aware of, or if they were, they were still not prepared for the consequences and were often devastated if this happened.

In addition, while not explicitly addressed as part of the study, it did not appear that the children or young people were aware that sending these images, keeping them, or sharing them is illegal – these are child abuse images.

While this was a small scale qualitative report, and the extent of sexting cannot be determined from it, these pupils’ experiences are unlikely to be isolated. Previous research has shown more than a third of under-18s have received an offensive or distressing sexual image by text or e-mail.

It is clear that more education needs to take place about this issue. Girls should never be forced to carry out sex acts, or send sexual images, and boys must understand it is not acceptable to put them under such duress that they have little choice but to agree.

COMMUNICATING E-SAFETY
Firstly, it is vital that the teachers responsible for teaching e-safety are given the opportunity to keep up to date with the technology E
F their pupils are using to communicate with. For example, they would need to be aware of the different terminology used, with different smartphones, and the different safety settings or options they offer for sharing images. They also need to be aware that the way in which young people communicate changes quickly – this was demonstrated by the young people who took part in the NSPCC study referred to above. When the study took place in the summer of 2011 the majority of communication took place using BlackBerry Messenger (BBM). Young people are now also using other types of networking such as Kik – a networking app that can be easily downloaded on to smartphones. Unless given proper training and support to keep up to date with the technology being used by their pupils it will be difficult for teachers to appear credible and successfully engage with pupils on these issues.

USING THE CURRICULUM
Secondly it is crucial that e-safety messages are fully embedded into the school curriculum. These can easily be incorporated into classes such as PHSE, SRE or Citizenship. However the importance that this type of education is accorded varies from school to school. In order to help pupils protect themselves it is important that e-safety messages are taught as an integral part of the school curriculum.

The success of getting e-safety messages across to pupils is also dependent on the way in which they are addressed. This may not be applicable to all e-safety messages but for issues, that affect boys and girls differently, such as sexting, it may be preferable to speak about these in a single sex environment. Cultural and religious issues also need to be considered, and these may inform the way that messages should be delivered. Different messages will also be appropriate for different age groups. However care should be taken to ensure that these messages are not left too late – in our study it was those in Year 8 rather than Year 10 that appeared more worried and confused about the sexual and sexting pressures that they faced, but due to their youth were less likely to receive support from their parents and teachers.

DON’T FORGET THE BENEFITS
When speaking to children about online and mobile technology it is important for teachers to recognise the benefits brought by these as well as talking about the problems. Mobiles have become a vital part of children’s lives – so much so that the division between “real” life and “online” life is often not recognised. Recognising this and the benefits they bring rather than appearing to be hostile towards mobile technology can help. One way of doing this (if you are teaching a class where all children have smartphones) is to set an assignment using these.

As teachers will know pupils are often more open to listening to their peers than adults – another way to effectively get e-safety messages across to pupils therefore is to arrange for children or young people to speak about their own experiences and offer advice to pupils a few years younger.

Schools can also play a part in engaging parents around e-safety issues. Data from Ofcom and EU Kids Online shows around a fifth of parents do not speak with their children about online safety, are not confident they can protect their children and have no rules relating safe internet use. This can be a particular issue in relation to sexual risks, as the research indicates parents are often unaware of the sexual risks their children face online. It also showed that though children were less likely to tell their parents about sexual issues than they were about problems such as cyber-bullying, they would like to feel able to talk to them about it. Schools can provide a forum to increase parental awareness of the issues and encourage them to speak with their children about their online experiences. Schools may need to be innovative about the way they do this as not all parents would be willing to come in for an evening about e-safety. Inviting speakers from companies such as Google to speak at these events is more likely to increase attendance from parents.

Helping pupils protect themselves from the risks posed by online and mobile technology should be seen as a crucial part of their education. Teachers, alongside parents, and internet service providers, have a responsibility to teach children how to minimise the risks to themselves online, while still taking advantages of the benefits.

FURTHER RESOURCES

The NSPCC has a training and consultancy service that can help ensure that your e-safety policies are up to date. We also have a variety of online resources that can help – go to
 www.nspcc.org.uk/education

What’s more, the Child Exploitation & Online Protection Centre (CEOP) runs a website offering help and advice for children of different ages and teachers about safe internet use. Visit www.thinkuknow.co.uk

FURTHER INFORMATION
Tel: 0844 892 1026
contactus@nspcc.org.uk
www.nspcc.org.uk/education