Zip it ! Block it ! Flag it!

(09 February 2010)

Pupils at Durham School are encouraged to ‘think before they post’ in response to Tuesday’s European Safer Internet Day. Through a succession of Year 11 talks given by the Headmaster and a Chapel Assembly given by the Deputy Head (Pastoral), pupils are asked to reflect on what their profile pages say about them.

As well as imagining that their parents are watching over their shoulder, pupils are told to picture their future employer or university applications officer doing the same thing! The recent Deputy Head’s Conference attended by the School’s Head of Boarding, Mr Mark Bushnell, highlighted the fact that six out of every ten job applications never get considered for interview because of the content of the young person’s profile page.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Agency ( CEOP) is spear-heading activities and launching new resources to empower young people and children to challenge inappropriate messaging and images by blocking and reporting the abuse. Recent Ofcom research suggests that 78% of 5-7 year-olds are now using the internet and that many of them pretend to be thirteen in order to open a "Facebook" or "Bebo" account. This new initiative invites children to follow the adventures of Lee and Kim to understand issues of "cyberbullying" and talking to strangers on the internet.

Parents of pupils from age three to eighteen at Durham School will be invited to attend a seminar and discussion on e-safety on Monday 8 March in Big School.

Mrs Fiona Parker, (Deputy Head, Pastoral) commented: "It is vital that we teachers work closely together with parents to form a circle of protection round the child where online safety is concerned. We need to be aware that our pupils are ‘playing’ in a global playground and they need to be streetwise as to the potential dangers of access to a largely un-policed forum."‘

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Staff meetings
Monday, 06 September 2010

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