Primary schools highlight dangers of e-strangers

PRIMARY pupils are to be taught about the danger of talking to strangers on the internet in the same classes that tell them not to talk to someone who approaches them on the street.

As research reveals almost three-quarters of teenagers here have been approached online by a stranger, a Government agency is planning to make internet safety part of the primary curriculum.

A programme is already incorporated into the second level social, personal and health education (SPHE) curriculum for students up to Junior Certificate. The National Council for Technology in Education (NCTE), which oversees use of computers and other technologies in schools, is now developing a similar module for primary pupils.