Internet Safety Day, 5Th February. A Message From Pc Skyrme

An open message to parents from our school Police Liaison Officer PC Skyrme.

Tuesday 5th February is Internet safety day and I have seen some great work going on in our schools from the young learners and we are very lucky to have such a great community of teachers, schools and pupils. I have visited over 915 children this week including St Nicholas, delivering the message about internet safety and how our children can build resilience in this digital world.

What has levelled me this week is some of the content our children are accessing and playing. I ask you as parents to speak with your children, find out what exactly they are playing, what is the game content they are playing, who are they playing against, have they personally met every person who they are playing against and do they know them other than in the digital world? The answers I have found this week are our children are very aware of danger but unaware that danger comes very much online as well. The average age of a gamer in the UK is 32 years of age and all children agreed they would not play with an unknown 32 year old person in their local park, yet not one battered an eyelid when playing them online.

Take a few minutes, ask your child what they are playing, sit with them, watch them and listen to them. We wouldn’t leave our children in a city centre unattended but the digital dangers can be as bad if not worse. Please keep up the great work you are doing as parents, I know the schools are doing a great job and I am happy to be contacted via the school for any parents that may have concerns or questions.

Kind regards

Pc Geraint SKYRME 224

Here are some useful web links –

www.cybermentors.org.uk

www.thinkyouknow.co.uk

saferinternet.org.uk/gaming

saferinternet.org.uk/cyberbullying-tips

askaboutgames.com

ceop.police.uk/safety-centre