E-Safety Resources for Students
To help you stay safe online there is a series that consists of six short films for students to help empower the use of social media safely and responsibly. The videos look at the ways in which the internet and digital technology can be used positively as well as identifying some of the most common issues you may face (or have already faced) when using the internet and social media.
Cyber Bullying
As you are probably already aware, cyberbullying is any form of bullying that happens online. It can be something subtle, like being left out of a group chat to something more obviously nasty or threatening. It can also be very public and can happen at any place and at any time.
This video will give you tips and advice on how to take a step back, get things in perspective and deal with cyberbullying in a way that means you can still enjoy being online.
Digital Footprint
A digital footprint is the trail of information we leave behind us when we do anything online – when we share, search, join groups or buy things. All of this information is stored somewhere – sometimes we know about it and sometimes we don’t.
In this video, we will give you insights into how digital footprints are formed, why it is important to be aware of them, how you can manage your digital footprint and ways to make it work to your advantage.
Identity and Self-esteem
Most of us want to present ourselves in the best possible light online and with photo editing apps, we can tune our appearance any way we like. But if people like this stylised version of ourselves, how satisfying is that? What does it say about how we think about ourselves?
This video gives you some things to think about when it comes to how we present ourselves online as well as some tips and advice on how to avoid social peer pressure, remain confident and be true to yourself.
Relationships and Grooming
Social media is a powerful tool for connecting you to people you know and also for making new connections with people that you don’t. Unfortunately, it can also be used by less honest people to construct fake profiles in order to scam others or build romantic relationships.
This video has been created to give you information about how the people we connect with online don’t always have the best intentions, as well as advice on how to avoid the dangers.
Security and Privacy
We share so many aspects of our lives online – from where we go out, to what we eat, to where we go on holiday. This is great for keeping up to date with friends and family, but sometimes this information can be used against us in the form of hacks, phishing scams or viruses.
This video gives you tips on what sorts of information you should to keep to yourself, trends we are seeing in this space and advice on how to stay secure online.
Sexting
Sharing is such a big part of our online lives, and for most of us who share responsibly, it’s great. But for some it can be detrimental and sexting is one of the biggest problems. Sexting involves someone sharing any form of sexually explicit content, like a nude selfie, with another person.
This video has been created to encourage you to think about the risks of sexting as well as offering guidance on what to do if you’ve either received sexually explicit content, or are thinking about sharing it.
Reporting abuse
The symbol on the ‘CEOP Internet Safety’ button represents the Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT), a group of law enforcement agencies who work together to fight online abuse relating to children. If you click on the button you will be reporting a problem directly to someone at CEOP (the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Agency) You are then likely to be contacted by a social worker or a police officer, to talk through your report in more detail. They need to do this to make sure you are safe. It is also a good idea to talk to your parents about your report to CEOP, although if your report concerns a family member, CEOP will not make contact with them until an investigation has been completed.
If you do not want to make a report by pressing the button but are still worried about something online, then please talk to one of the Pastoral team or to an adult you can trust.