Internet Safety

Further information and online activities

The following information and links have been compiled from Fife Education materials, various websites and the "Signposts to Safety" booklet prepared by Becta in 2004 and held in the publications section of their website. The complete Adobe Acrobat file may be downloaded here. Please note that not all the websites listed in Signposts are included below and that responsible adults at school and home should check the sites before directing children to them as certain sections might be less appropriate than others. Only a few sites are placed in the Pupils column but others are mentioned in the Teachers and Parent and Carers columns.

One of the first things to do with a class could be to devise their own Internet Rules (from Becta's Signposts to Safety) or perhaps from Kidsmart SMART rules and from Fife Education's Acceptable Use of the Internet: Pupils' leaflet. The Think You Know website suits primary aged and early secondary pupils for this purpose as it provides simple rules using animation and cartoon characters. Fife's Pupils leaflet should be placed in prominent locations, be brought to pupils' attention and could be supported by additional posters produced by pupils using the sources mentioned on this page.

The For Kids by Kids Online is described in more detail and Kidsmart (by ChildNet International) has a clear explanation on its homepage for the three target groups - young people (under 11 or over 11), teachers and parents.

Teachers, parents and carers may consider the information held on the NetSmartz a U.S.A. website - this site contains a Kids and Teens section and may suit home or school use. The site has an e-mail section but parents and carers should first read the Privacy Note before deciding if they would agree to their child participating and should ensure that personal information is not revealed. This feature should not be used in school.

Internet Literacy (Fife)

Signposts page 16

Be Safe Online - an LT Scotland site covering most internet features including those listed in this table.

For Kids by Kids Online (7 - 12 years)

QUICK: Quality Improvement Checklist (9-14 years).

A straightforward look at evaulating content by posing and answering 8 questions.

Signposts page 16

Be safe Online

Fife Council's Child Protection handbook on "Safe Parenting" has a section devoted to Internet Safety.

Internet Super Heroes a USA website considers parents' "four worst fears".

For Kids by Kids Online (7 - 12 years)

Kidsmart has a section devoted to Parents and Carers.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre are running a campaign in the run up to Christmas aimed particularly at parents and carers given that many will be thinking about buying internet and digital technologies as gifts for their children.

As part of this campaign we are offering a registration facility on the ThinkUKnow website where they will be able to receive regular updates on via email over the New Year. These updates will include information on new technologies, emerging risks and safety tips to help them keep their children safe online.

We are therefore asking that you encourage any parents with which you have contact to visit the website, learn more about how to keep their children safe online and register to receive free updates on a monthly basis.

We would also ask that you forward this email to your Corporate Communications team and ask them to support the campaign by adding the below text and a link to either an internal intranet or an external website. If you would like a banner advert to help spread the messages these can be downloaded from www.ceop.gov.uk/banners.asp. The registration pages will be live from Thursday 6 December.

"What's your child doing online this Christmas"
Visit www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents

If you have any queries or questions please contact hannah.bickers@ceop.gsi.gov.uk.

Certain websites will be blocked by Fife Education servers. Teachers should place a call on the Help Desk (700 6000) to change this status if they can guarantee the site's suitability.

Please refer to the section on Filtering (below).

Fife Acceptable Use policy states clearly that pupils schould not provide information that may identify them.

Therefore, although the websites included in this article contain very useful information, you should avoid any of their pages which have a "send an e-mail" section.

For Kids by Kids Online (7 - 12 years)

Signposts pp21 - 23

A major source of viruses usually as attachments to the message. If in doubt of the source, don't open the attachment and, better still don't open the message.

Fife has individual pupil accounts in secondary and class e-mail for primary schools.

Direct access to webmail accounts is blocked for security reasons but messages can be read if sent to the relevant fife.gov.uk or fife.sch.co.uk account.

For Kids by Kids Online (7 - 12 years)

Kidsmart (over 11) and Kidsmart SMART rules.

Signposts pp 25 - 28

Chat Danger from ChildNet International.

Chat Lines and MSN Messenger and similar applications are blocked in schools but a secure Scottish Executive backed site is offered by Grid Club and the Scottish Schools Digital Network is working on secure links for Scottish learners.

Grid Club may only be accessed once schools contact the Help Desk requesting the site be "unblocked". Pupils are unable to send messages until they are registered by the school. The site is moderated by experienced teachers.

For Kids by Kids Online (7 - 12 years)

Kidsmart (over 11 has more info.)

Mobile phones are not to be used during school hours.

As of autumn 2005 Fife council staff involved in Child Protection have been promoting materials to raise awareness of grooming of children by adults through mobile phones and other electronic media.

Peer to Peer

File Sharing

Letting other internet users share your hard drive is to be avoided in school.

File sharing via websites devoted to this practice is not to be undertaken in school - just share files through e-mail attachments with people you know.

For Kids by Kids Online (7 - 12 years)

Kidsmart (over 11)

Be very wary of this service on your home PC.

Look at the two websites in the Pupils' column for more information. Note this is an activity not practised in school.

Sharing files over the internet is possible either as attachments to e-mail or through a download option. Caution must be taken at all times for all users in particular pupils.

Teachers are expected to refer to plagerism and copyright statements in the Acceptable Use Policy and be aware of potential virus infection. Click here for a short description with reference to standard circulars.

In particular, downloading files (eg, Music) is to be treated with caution. The source must be investigated and copyright and other related restrictions applied.

Always be wary of unexpected e-mail attachments and of download "offers" on websites.

Pupils should not download files without permission - part of the Acceptable Use Policy.

For Kids by Kids Online (7 - 12 years)

Home PCs should be protected using your Internet Service Provider's (ISP) own software or proprietary products or even free "home-use" downloads.

It is also very useful to install a "Pop-Up" blocker.

Signposts pp 17,18

Pupils should understand that websites accessed at school are accessed through filtering software which checks the website against categories or individual sites which are deemed unsuitable.

Signposts pp 17,18

Parents and Carers using home PCs should set up separate child accounts and decide the level of parental control. ISPs offer this service and have broad settings to suit different age groups which may be supplemented by additional parent restrictions.

If set correctly, children seeking access to restricted sites will be prompted to send a message (e-mail) to their parent's account seeking permission to "unblock" the site.

The Fife Education and Fife Council networks employ filtering software to deny access to particular groups of websites. On occasion this "blanket" block denies access to websites with suitable education content.

Teachers who wish to access such blocked websites should contact the Help Desk to request a particular website be "unblocked". The website in question will be checked by Education ICT Technical Support staff and the Education Adviser ICT before final release is actioned.

Kidsmart covers this topic in the over 11 years section.

GetNetWise - a public service from a number of internet industry and public bodies.

The Parent Centre offers a range of information.

Chat Danger - a Childnet Internation website.