Introduction
By the time young people reach Key Stage 4, most will already be very confident in using web 2.0 technologies and mobile applications. Indeed, for many young people the online world is very much their real world.
As the recent ‘Youth safety on a living internet’ report states:
To youth, social media and technologies are not something extra added on to their lives; they’re embedded in their lives. Their offline and online lives have converged into one life.
As these young learners have grown up with digital technology many of them may also have had to navigate a range of online risks and dangers. Schools therefore have a vital responsibility not only to provide a safe online environment, but also have effective safeguarding policies and a strong commitment to educating and empowering young people in all aspects of e-safety.
At Key Stage 4 most young learners will already know the basic internet safety advice about not meeting up with strangers they’ve ‘met’ online, or not believing everything they read. However, there are very many other issues including the importance of privacy, the dangers of peer abuse and cyberbullying as well as the issues of information security and viruses.
Following are a set of resources which will give you a good introduction to the subject of e-safety at this key stage and which you can use to support your project. We have included a short reflection exercise after each resource which will help you reflect on the issue specifically for Key Stages 4 and 5.
Please note some of these website resources (especially those posted on YouTube) may change or be removed over time.
Resources