Safer Internet Day - Feb 5th

Posted on January 28, 2013

Are you a parent, guardian or someone looking after children and concerned about online safety? Then join Bedfordshire Police on Tuesday 5^th February at the next international Safer Internet Day (SID) being hosted by Bedford Girls School.

The theme of the day is 'Online rights and responsibilities' and this will be the 10th anniversary of the event.

The FREE session at 7pm Cardington Road in Bedford, is for all parents, guardians or anyone who works with or cares for children and young people, from anywhere in the county.

Led by Bedfordshire Police Children and Young People Development Officer Richard Denton, it is designed to cover all areas of internet safety with practical tips and advice for everyone. Throughout the day the force's 10 top tips for staying safe online will also be sent through Bedfordshire Police twitter feed. Similar events will also be run in Luton and Central Beds over the coming months.

Richard Denton said: "During the last twelve months we have run workshops for over 10,000 children across Bedfordshire looking at issues from unwanted contact, cyber-bullying and indecent images. We have also had the opportunity to run sessions for almost 1000 parents, guardians and other professionals who work with young people."

"The Internet is a fantastic tool and the majority of the time it is a beneficial, fun and educational resource. We just want everyone to apply common sense and a few simple safety measures when using it that is all. Think about who you are talking to, the information you share and how you can maintain your privacy. Keeping children and young people safe online will remain a very important area of work for Bedfordshire Police."

To book a place, please email [email protected] Spaces are limited and will be issued on a first come first serve basis.

To get up to date advice about staying safe online visit www.ThinkUKnow.co.uk If you are concerned about any content or activity on your child's internet and social networking sites then please contact Bedfordshire Police by calling 101.

For more information on Safer Internet Day go to www.saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day

Bedfordshire Police's top 10 Internet safety tips are:

1. Visit www.thinkUKnow.co.uk to find out more about keeping safe online.
2. Look at installing security products that allow parents / carers to block certain websites, implement time limits and monitor activity.
3. Help your children to understand they should never give out personal details to online friends they do not know offline.  

4. Explain to your children what information about them is personal: i.e. email address, mobile number, school name, sports club. Small pieces of information can easily be pieced together to form a comprehensive insight in to their lives and daily activities.

5. Make your children aware that they need to think carefully about the information and pictures they post on their profiles. Inform them that once published online, anyone can change or share these images of them.

6. It can be easy to forget that the internet is not a private space, and as a result young people sometimes engage in risky behaviour online. Advise your children not to post any pictures, videos or information on their profiles, or in chat rooms, that they would not want a parent or carer to see.

7. If your child receives spam or junk email and texts, remind them never to believe their contents, reply to them or use them.

8. It's not a good idea for your child to open files that are from people they don't know. They won't know what they contain—it could be a virus, or worse – an inappropriate image or film.

9. Help your child to understand that some people lie online and that therefore it's better to keep online mates online. They should never meet up with strangers.

10. Always keep communication open for a child to know that it's never too late to tell someone if something makes them feel uncomfortable.

A further resource recommended by Alice Johnson is O2's keeping kids safe website.