Teenagers promote online safety message in primary schools
THE benefits and risks to young children of using the internet can be easily found by listening to the experiences of fourth-class pupils.
Two older boys who returned to their old classroom found out just that when they taught an online safety programme to nine- and 10-year-olds at St Joseph’s National School near Cork’s city centre.
A sign of how the online world has changed in the four years since they began attending Presentation Brothers College next door was the level of activity evident among the 30 boys in Maria Kirwan’s fourth class.
Transition-year students Martin Keohane and Evan O’Brien were themselves surprised by the number of hands that shot up when they asked who used social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat. Almost all were users of other sites that might be expected to be in use among boys of this age, such as YouTube, Google+ and countless other video, photo-sharing, and game-playing websites.
It was the potential pitfalls of using some of all these sites that the two teenagers came to speak about, and many of their younger audience were clearly aware of some of the risks.
“Sometimes, there’s pop-ups when you are playing games online, and a lot of them might carry viruses,” said one eager young learner.
Their visitors explained how best to close these kind of risky windows, and explained the importance of anti-virus software. Although they were there as part of a social responsibility programme run by internet security company McAfee, which has run similar courses by its own staff in schools since last year, there was no plugging any particular brands.
Moving on to social media, many of the boys were taken aback when they saw how a picture shared on Facebook or another site can spread far beyond the number of recipients intended. On this note, they were also advised to be very careful who they agree to be friends with on social media sites, after they shouted out their social media friend numbers — ranging from 12 to dozens more.
“If you wouldn’t invite somebody to your birthday party, it might be a good idea not to be their friend online,” suggested Martin.
As one of the McAfee Transition Year Ambassadors, he and Evan, along with four others from PBC were delivering the programme for their first time, having first taken a similar course from McAfee staff at their own school last year. Similar transition year groups from two other Cork city secondary schools — Gaelcholáiste Mhuire at the North Monastery and Christian Brothers College — were also teaching the course in their local primary schools this month.
While the online engagement of the fourth-class boys is extensive, that level of activity also highlights their vulnerability.
Many of those at St Joseph’s reeled off stories they have heard of boys being asked questions online about themselves, often while playing games; questions about their names, ages, and where they live. The strong advice to them was clear: Never respond to anyone asking personal information, and always tell a parent or other responsible adult.
The message was similar when it came to cyberbullying, and some outlined their own experiences, and how they deal with them very responsibly.
“I was cyberbullied before and I told my mum, and it was all sorted out,” said one fourth-class pupil, who was commended by his teacher and the two visiting students for the way he had responded.
Ms Kirwan thought the simple code they were taught for dealing with cyberbullying was very sensible: Stop, Block, and Tell.
“I saw the way they all reached for pencil and paper to write it down, it was a sign of how engaged the class was,” she said. “This was really great and a brilliant addition to what they’ve already been learning in class about bullying.”
The final key message for the boys was to remember that anything they would not do or say to someone face-to-face, they should not do it online.
Paul Walsh, the vice-president of engineering for McAfee’s in Europe, said there is a global need for cyber-education to teach young people what it means to be responsible online.
“We are doing just that. Our goal is to expand our reach and to forge partnerships within our local communities,” he said.
