Online Safety

At MEA we want our students to access the digital world in a safe and responsible way. The internet and online technologies are an important part of children’s lives at home and school, providing great opportunities for learning, communicating, playing and creating. As we know, these technologies can be helpful but sometimes overwhelming for parents and students. We want to ensure everyone knows how to stay safe online. 

Here at MEA we deliver both an ICT curriculum to Years 7 & 8, and a Fantastic Futures curriculum to all years. Students learn how to stay safe online and how to communicate with one another. 

In addition, the academy employs a multi-layered internet filtering system to ensure that students are protected from coming into contact with unsuitable content.

 

As a parent or student you may wish to think about staying safe online as four different aspects.

  • Conduct – young people need to be aware of the impact their online behaviour can have on themselves and others.
  • Content – young people need to understand how to avoid or report online content that may be inappropriate or harmful.
  • Contact – not everyone is truthful online and young people need to learn the importance of setting and reviewing privacy settings.
  • Commercialism – young people need to learn how to block pop-ups and spam, and turn off in-app purchasing to make sure their online enjoyment is not spoiled.
  • Talk to your child about their use of ICT and online safety, especially password security. Passwords should be easy for you to remember but hard for someone else to guess, and should include at least 1 capital letter, 1 number and 1 special character (for example @,\!). Do not use the same password for different accounts, and instead use a password manager to keep track of all your passwords.

https://www.google.co.uk/safetycenter/everyone/start/password/

  • Reassure children that they can always talk to you if they feel uncomfortable or access anything that is inappropriate.
  • Make your child knows the importance of privacy settings and knows how to block or report things that concern them.
  • Move access to computers and the internet to a place where it can be monitored, such as the living room.
  • Read the features of your child’s mobile phone, for example many providers have their own filtering systems.

Below are some great websites to help students and parents get the most out of your technology, use the internet responsibly and to keep you and those you care about safe on the internet.

ThinkUKnow for Parents

Help and advice from the National Crime Agency. This site deals with information about sexual abuse and exploitation of young people and offers advice, explains what to do if you are concerned and explains how to report concerns to CEOP Command (formerly Child Exploitation and Online Protection)

Blocking and Reporting on Social Media

Kidscape - help and advice if your child is being or has been bullied online

Internet Matters - online safety advice for secondary school parents

Digital Resilience Toolkit - practical tips for parents of 11-13 year olds