Bulletin #22 | February 18th, 2020

Safer Internet Week

Last week we celebrated Safer Internet Day. Tuesday, February 11 was the actual day marked in calendars of schools around the world. The objective of this day was to remember that we can work "Together for a better internet".

It almost seems impossible to remember back to a world where there was no internet, and science fiction gave us dreams and nightmares of a future with computers taking over the world. Yet now we are already at the stage where people entering the workforce never knew those times, and the capabilities of our computers, and phones, and watches and now even our door bells are providing us a world of possibilities that we could never imagine just a few years ago.
Never before have we enjoyed so many opportunities to learn, exchange, participate and create.

Yet, the internet also opens up certain risks to its users, to all of us and as adults we must try to learn and keep ahead of these dangers, especially if we are to protect our children. All our students are as vulnerable as we are, but they have neither the maturity nor capacity to understand or be prepared to confront these dangers, and to see where they lurk. For adults, we face credit card fraud, identity theft and privacy concerns, and our children face all of this plus cyberbullying, disinformation, exposure to potentially harmful content and predatory behaviors, to quote but a few. The internet can be a dangerous place.

So how can we help all of us and our children have access to this amazing, useful and stimulating online environment, making the most of a wealth of opportunities in a safe way, while at the same time trying to keep free from all the negative side-effects? With our own care and attention, by keeping a careful watch on our children’s online habits, and by learning together, we have the power to inspire positive use of the internet and to raise awareness of the dangers that are there too. This is what the Safer Internet Day is all about, and our school’s commitment to continue to bring awareness about the good and bad of technology has been focused once again during the week.

There are many ways to focus our efforts, and the Safer Internet Day encourages everyone to play their part.

• Students can help create a better internet by being kind and respectful to others online, by protecting their online reputations (and those of others), and by seeking out positive opportunities to create, engage and share online.
• Parents can empower and support their children to use technology responsibly, respectfully, critically and creatively, by keeping an open dialogue with their children, educating them to use technology safely and positively, and by acting as digital role models.
• Teachers can help create a better internet by teaching students digital literacy skills and by developing their critical thinking skills, which will allow them to better navigate the online world. They can empower them to create their own content, make considered choices online, and can set a personal example of positive online behavior.


For those that missed it, we had Parent Talks, and other talks and activities across the school. The Cyber Police, as special invited guests, talked to approximately 160 parents who came to this Parent Talk, (an amazing number, thank you all!) and they then presented and worked with all students from 4-12 grades during the week.

We thank all those that participated and we hope that together we can continue right through the year to be respectful online, to not hurt others or gossip and to know which websites are not good for us to visit, that we can all gain the benefits of the internet and not victim to the dangers that are out there.

 

 

 

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Mark Dunn
Elementary School Principal