International E-Safety Expert promotes Safer Internet use at HMSG and Monmouth School for Boys
Internationally acclaimed E-Safety expert Karl Hopwood – a member of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety – gave a series of specialist lectures to parents and pupils at HMSG and Monmouth School for Boys in the build-up to Safer Internet Day (Tuesday 10 February) as part of the Confidence4Life programme.
The sessions were tailored for specific age groups and covered everything from cyberbullying, online reputation and privacy settings, through to social networking and E-technology of the future. The parents’ lecture in the evening focused on both technical and non-technical solutions to enable parents to support their children living in the online world.
Parents commented on how “practical and realistic” the evening lecture was where Karl Hopwood “spoke to us as parents, as a parent, reminding us how important it is to keep talking to our children” and that the sessions were “very helpful and informative”.
The boys from Forms I and II at Monmouth School joined Years 7 and 8 at HMSG for their sessions, which highlighted interesting gender differences in the approach to online safety. Years 9 and 10 and Forms III and IV were given realistic scenarios in their joint lecture to make them think about the potential impact of an online identity. In addition, Year 11 and sixth formers at HMSG and Monmouth School benefited from tailored expertise that will enable them to take action to protect their online reputation for both prospective universities and employers.
Comments from students were extremely positive, ranging from “I am so glad I attended this lecture, it has given me practical advice that I can use immediately” through to “…relevant…exactly what I needed…brilliant…useful…”
Miss J Johnson, Co-ordinator of the Confidence4Life initiative said: “E-safety is a vitally important issue and, working in partnership with parents, we see our role as essential in equipping students with the relevant skills, to be robust and self-confident enough to handle any situation appropriately and safely.”Karl Hopwood works extensively with schools, presenting regularly at conferences in the UK and abroad. Karl also works as an in-house consultant for Insafe, the coordinator of the Safer Internet Centres in the EU. He is a member of UKCCIS (UK Council for Child Internet Safety) and sits on the advisory board for the UK Safer Internet Centre and the education advisory board for CEOP.
Karl Hopwood:
Safer Internet Day 2015 will be celebrated globally on Tuesday 10th February with the slogan ‘Let’s create a better internet together’. Coordinated in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre the celebration sees hundreds of organisations get involved to help promote the safe, responsible and positive use of digital technology for children and young people http://www.saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/2015
We would like to reiterate the need for all of us to be vigilant and the HMSG E-safety web-site page – which incorporates the new materials from Karl Hopwood – is available to support parents and pupils with helpful advice on how to use the internet safely and responsibly: https://www.habsmonmouth.org/girls/school-life/pastoral/e-safety/
