Digital Technologies

Social Media Delay: Free Online Seminar

HEPS is an eSmart School

At HEPS, we’re proud to be an eSmart school, promoting safe and responsible online behaviour. Through our dedicated wellbeing and digital technology lessons, students learn practical strategies for becoming respectful and responsible digital citizens. To support conversations at home, we’ll be sharing helpful tips and information from the eSmart program in our newsletters.

Privacy 

In the digital age, knowing how to safeguard personal information is one of the most crucial skills young people need to get to grips with. This is because massive amounts of our personal data are tracked and stored through our devices – sometimes without us even realising it.

Apps, websites and games can track details such as:

• Name, age and contact details
• Location

• Device usage

   

How to talk to children about data privacy

You can introduce the idea of data privacy to young children with examples from the non-digital world. Starting with simple, real-world examples can help make data privacy feel more relevant. For instance, if they keep a diary, they probably put it somewhere safe in their room where only they can access it – they might even have a lock on it. They should think the same way about the information they put into a device.

How can children and young people keep their private information safe?

Many children will enter their details when prompted without thinking twice – it’s exactly that “thinking twice” that you want to encourage. Before they share any information, they should ask themselves:

• Who is asking for it?
• Why do they need it?

• What might they do with it?

   

If in doubt, they should know to always come to you or another trusted adult. Apps and devices include settings that allow you to limit the data you share and who you share it with. For instance, you can turn off location settings on your phone so that it isn't tracking your movements, and social media platforms include 'public' and 'private' settings.

Setting your account to private means that only accounts you approve can see your details or send you messages.