eSmart Week

The web is a great place to learn, be creative and stay connected. However, with one in five young Australians found to have been cyber bullied – and the many other challenges young people face online – it’s important we invest in giving our community the skills they need to be responsible digital citizens. That’s why we’re participating in the Alannah & Madeline Foundation’s National eSmart Week along with hundreds of other communities, to show our commitment to building an eSmart Australia.

This week our school will be involved in eSmart week in a number of ways. We have Des Hudson coming to talk to our older students at both our Buninyong and Scotsburn campuses during the week which will be a great learning experience for all.

Parent Q&A session with Des Hudson - Friday (after assembly)

Des will also be speaking at assembly briefly before heading back up to the staff room for a Q&A session for parents. We invite all parents to come along and have a chat with Des and ask him any questions relevant to cybersafety.

Top 10 tips for being safe online

Throughout this week we are sharing the eSmart top ten tips for being safe online. These are some great guidelines for our school community. The students will be hearing these during the week and some discussions taking place in class. It would be great for parents to have a chat about some of these at home with children.

10. Care about the Share

Social media wants you to share as much as you can bear! But the share should be rare. NEVER share: passwords, private/personal information, your location.

9. Privacy Matters

If you care about the share, you’ll protect your privacy, no matter what. Regularly check your privacy settings on social media, and always think before you post. It’s amazing where data ends up – usually all over the internet.

8. Respect the Privacy of Others

Treat others’ privacy as you would your own. Ask for your friends’ permission before uploading photos and videos of them.

7. Keep Everything Updated

Any idea what causes the most security breaches on the internet? Software that isn’t up-to-date. Seems crazy simple, but it’s true! Be vigilant about updating software, including apps, anti-virus and even the humble browser.

6. Spam, Spam, Spam, Spammidy-spam

Even with the best anti-spam and malware software – that’s up-to-date – spam is the modern version of junk mail. It’s everywhere! Learn how to tell the difference between real emails and messages, and dodgy things with dodgy links. Sometimes they don’t look so dodgy...always be suspicious of hyperlinks in emails.

5. Control the Troll Within

There be trolls out there – beware! Don’t feed them, don’t give them what they want: an angry response. Block/Report the trolls. But also: resist the inner troll. If you’re not adding something to the debate online, don’t bother. Don’t be part of the problem.

4. Cyberbullying and Harassment

If you’re being targeted by this kind of behaviour, know what you can do, and where you can get help. Visit the National Centre Against Bullying website and the Office of the eSafety Commissioner's website.

3. Keep Your Friends Close and Strangers at Arm’s Length

Do you know how many true friends most people have? Three. Yup, those four thousand and fifty-two Facebook ‘friends’ are a combination of acquaintances, people-you-met-once, people-you-can’t-remember-meeting-once, and probably, some ‘randoms’. They don’t need to know what you had for breakfast, or what concert you went to last night, do they?

2. Feel the Flow – Keep Your Life in Balance

Technology is incredible. Gaming, networking, apps…online shopping! But make sure you take time out and find the right balance for you. Too long on tech can put the world out of whack.

1. Have Fun, Friend

Always remember to chill out and keep things in perspective. There’s too much information online to take it all in! Focus on each moment and enjoy.

Resources

There are a couple of really great resources to help parents, teachers and children navigate the online world safely.

1 eSafety Commissioner – www.esafety.vic.gov.au

The eSafety Commissioner is responsible for promoting online safety for all Australians. This website is a fantastic resource for educators, parents and students. It has a large range of resources and support. This website is the best place to report any instances of cyberbullying, image-based abuse or illegal and offensive content. There are how to guides for reporting and support for anyone who should need it.

2 Common Sense Media - www.commonsensemedia.org/

Common sense media is a website dedicated to providing parents and teachers with guides to all sorts of different media from games to apps and books. It has comprehensive reviews of most popular media and easy to read parents guides. If your child is using or wants an app that you’re not sure of, head to this website and have a look at the review. It also has an excellent parents guide to fortnight (https://www.commonsensemedia.org/everything-you-need-to-know-about-fortnite)

Debating

Royal South Street Debating