The Department of Education's Cyber-safety and Reputation Management team visited our Years 4-6 students this week to discuss digital citizenship and cybersafety.  

The session covered:

• Understanding digital footprints and responsible digital citizenship
• How to protect personal information when creating online accounts
• Cyberbullying and standing up for friends online
• Account privacy and how to create a strong password
• Responding to negative online content
• How to handle yourself if you're having a difficult time online.

One of the key takeaways for our students was that many social media apps, such as Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok and Youtube, have an age restriction of 13+ which means they should not be using these or have accounts for these while they are in primary school.

They learned that even if a parent had given them permission to create an account, they are still breaking the rules of the terms and conditions of those sites. It was reinforced to students that rules and responsibilities online are the same as in the real world and there are consequences for both.

Students were asked to go home and ask the adult in their life to help them delete or deactivate their accounts if they have any.

Another key message for students was about thinking before you PUT anything online.

Is it Positive?

Is it Useful?

Is it Truthful?

If not then do not PUT it online.

Our Cybersafety Agents I & T were on hand to gather all the key messages to share with the rest of the school throughout the year.  They are excited to share their first message next week.