More than 3,500 ACT school students tuned in to a webinar from the Office of the Australian eSafety Commissioner last week to learn how to stay safe online.
The Education Directorate said the students took away several interesting facts regarding general safety, as well as specific issues that had arisen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There has been a 56 per cent increase in internet use due to an increase in working and learning from home,” the Directorate said.
“This has also led to an increase in scams and inappropriate online behaviours, with a large number of students that attended last week’s webinar reporting being approached by a stranger online to either connect or share images,” it said.
The Directorate said the webinar prompted students to ask themselves three questions before accepting an online invitation to connect, including “who are they?”, “how do they know you?” and “why do they want to be friends?”
“Students were also reminded of warning signs that a request to connect is unsafe,” it said.
“[These include] information provided not fitting their profile; asking to meet up; [and] comments that suggest the person is spying.”
It said students were reminded of the need to understand the different safety and security mechanisms on various devices and apps.
Advice for parents and carers on how to keep children safe online can be accessed on the eSafety Commissioner’s website at this PS News link.
