Internet Protection

Protecting your child online

The internet is so fundamental to our learning and to our social and professional lives that we tend simply to take for granted its benefits and accept its flaws. So pervading is its reach, that we often downplay the possibility that it could be a threat - a serious threat - to our children. At BCS we acknowledge the power of the internet and seek every opportunity to exploit its many riches - but we also take seriously the fact that its use requires both discipline and discrimination.

Whether on a computer at school, a laptop at home, a games console or mobile phone, our pupils are increasingly accessing the internet and it cannot be assumed that they have the discipline or maturity to act with responsibility. Schools and families have a duty of care to ensure that young people are supported in developing good internet practice - and are protected when their internet behaviour falls below these standards.

On moral as well as legal grounds, we would all seek to protect young people from hidden threats in the real world, and take all reasonable steps to make sure that they are safe whatever they are doing. Online safety and responsibility skills are skills for life - they serve the school years but also lay the foundation for professional practice and for responsible citizenship. If a pupil understands and acknowledges the risks that they face online and can make sensible and informed choices, they will derive full benefit from the internet and stay safe whilst doing so – particularly from those people who might seek them out to harm them. 

BCS therefore draws your attention to CEOPS (Child Exploitation Online Protection Service) which is dedicated to removing online risks of sexual abuse of children. They are part of UK policing and very much about tracking and bringing offenders to account either directly or in partnership with local and international forces.

The CEOPS approach is broad-based and pragmatic, drawing on the skills of police officers specialising in this area of criminality working with professionals from the wider child protection community and industry; seconded staff from organisations such as the NSPCC, teams sponsored by the likes of VISA and SERCO and experts from government and corporations such as Microsoft offering specialist advice and guidance.

We suggest that you visit www.ceop.gov.uk where you can access parent’s resources to help you keep your child safe online and keep up-to-date on the implications of relevant technological changes.  

 

CLICK HERE to download the BCS Policy on Email and Internet Use