Dr Maureen Griffin, Forensic Psychologist, spoke to 1st year, 2nd year, TY, 5th Year and LCA 1 students. The student presentations covered topics such as:
1. How to avoid risks online
2. Self-destructing Apps
3. Protecting our mental health online
4. Screens & Sleep
5. Creating Balance
6. Behaviour Online & the roles we play
8. Cyber-bullying & what to do
9. Legal aspects -digital age of consent
All talks were tailored towards the individual needs of the school and educational/experience level of the students. More information / resources on Internet Safety can be found by clicking on the links below or Dr. Griffin’s website www.mgmstraining.ie
- Maureen suggested in the presentations, to give up screens after a set time and see how long they can last and the impact it has on sleep quality and general well being. Little challenges like this every now and again can make students more aware of the impact technology is having on their sleep. Also included is a research study by Common Sense Media on Screens and Sleep.
- Parental Guides on various apps/ online issues available from the National Online Safety UK https://nationalonlinesafety.com/resources/platform-guides/They cover a range of popular apps and issues such as social media addiction, grooming, sexting etc. The guides offer practical advice and are a great resource for parents. You could release one guide to parents every week/fortnight to keep the conversation going. I have attached some here, but many more to download from the above link. A student in second year asked about VPN’s and a few students indicated they have downloaded free VPN apps. I have attached a guide which may serve useful for parents.
- Webwise offers great resources for schools on sexting and online sharing (Lockers Resource https://www.webwise.ie/lockers/), and online sexual coercion/blackmail (Be in CTRL Resource https://www.webwise.ie/beinctrl/)
- Another great website is Common Sense Media https://www.commonsensemedia.org/It offers reviews, age recommendations and advice on a range of popular social networking sites/chatting apps etc. The provide good articles on a weekly basis, which again can keep the conversation going with parents.
- Parent Guides I completed with Laya Healthcare. These are available to download from Laya’s Blog “Thrive” https://www.layahealthcare.ie/thrive/family/which covers lots of additional topics which may be of interest to parents.
- Finally, CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection) https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/offer great resources for students/staff/parents. They divide their resources into categories based on age https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/and also have a parents section with lots of advice and articles https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/
Laya Cyber Safety for Parents 1
Laya Cyber Safety for Parents 2
National-Online-Safety-Parents-Guide-to-Internet-Controls
