Fantastic Speaker Delivering Online Safety Presentation to Intermediate Students

Following her excellent presentation to Parents at this week's PAC meeting, Meryln Horton, from SafeOnline, will be talking about Online Safety to our Intermediate students, this Wednesday, May 17. The presentations will provide current and relevant information to the students so they can make the best choices online.

Your Life Online for Grades 4-5 focuses on how students will be creating their online identities as they begin to use more social media. The talk will  cover what making the right choices looks and feels like. The subject of proper behaviour online is stressed as well as what to do if they are being abused online. Merlyn will touch briefly on never posting or taking inappropriate images.

Your Life Online for Grades 6-7 stresses that students need to be the same person on and off the internet. Topics covered will include how online abuse can happen, what students can do to prevent it, and how to make changes in their lives to stop it. The emotional, social and future effects that come from different experiences on the internet will also be discussed. The message of never posting or sending sexual images online will be strongly emphasized.

Merlyn's presentation to PAC examined how children are using the internet and what we can do to help them stay safe online. In the enlightening talk Merlyn outlined the dangers of the internet and the risks children are taking online, examined why children take these risks, and explained what parents can be doing to help their children navigate the digital world.

Some of the key take-aways from the parent presentation are:

• There is no privacy on the Internet. What you post is public and permanent.
• Set limits and set tech-free zones and times for your family. Mealtimes, bedtime and in the car are  times and places when children want to talk, so these are good times to put the tech away.
• Be present in the spaces and places your children are, which includes online. For example, sSit with them while they are gaming and talk about what they are doing online. Be there to support them and help them understand mis-steps they are taking.
  

SafeOnline.ca is packed with resources for parents and students. Click here for the resource handout from the parent presentation (the password is sunshine2016) and post presentation quizzes for students.  If you're looking for good books about online safety, sexual health, body image and healthy relationships, the staff at Kidsbooks are extremely knowledgeable and offer tons of suggestions.