Cyberbullying and safeguarding of a child in a primary school.
With technology adapting it’s important to adapt children’s safety online and to include e learning within the school curriculum. Worryingly children who have been bullied on line are five times more likely to experience anxiety and twice as likely to suffer from depression and self-harm as those who have been maltreated at home (Antibullying,2016). This is why it’s important to ensure safe guarding to support children in today’s day and age with the ever-adapting technology to support the wellbeing of a child.
“Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone who comes into contact with children and their families and carers has a role to play in safeguarding children. In order to fulfil this responsibility effectively, all professionals should make sure their approach is child-centred. This means that they should consider, at all times, what is in the best interests of the child.”
(Department for Education, Keeping Children Safe in Education, 2018)
Safeguarding in schools should include:
· Create safe environments for children and young people through robust safeguarding practices.
· Ensure that adults who work in the school, including volunteers, don’t pose a risk to children.
· Make sure staff are trained, know how to respond to concerns and keep-up-to-date with policy and practice.
· Teach children and young people about staying safe in school and online.
· Maintain an environment where children feel confident to approach any member of staff if they have a worry or problem.
The risk of unsuitable materials can impact on a child’s wellbeing. With reference to this, the Byron Executive summary (2008) states that it is important to enable children to take a reasonable amount of responsibility for their own safety online. From researching such a hot topic, it is noticeable that its most definitely important to use internet safety as a big part of the future curricula design, to ensure that technology isn’t effecting children’s wellbeing.
Professor Donaldson has integrated the use of technology into the new curriculum for Wales with the digital competency framework, that will benefit a child’s development in an ever-growing digital world (Welsh assembly Government, 2016). There are many concerns in evolving the future classroom into a digital based learning area, there are potential risks surrounding the children’s welfare and their exposure to the digital world (BBC,2012) With this in mind it has later encouraged the UK government to implement reviews of potential risks (UKCCIS,2010). Such as
E-Safety is a governmental guidance across the UK that safeguards pupils from harmful online Materials accessed through devises such as computers, laptops, tablets and mobile phones. As well as the safety of social media and online games.
References-
Anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk. (2018). Pupil voice is key to stopping bullying and improving wellbeing of young people | Anti-Bullying Alliance. [online] Available at: https://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/news-insight/blog/pupil-voice-key-stopping-bullying-and-improving-wellbeing-young-people
Byron Executive Summary. (2008). [online] Available at: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20101011131800/http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/byronreview/pdfs/Executive%20summary.pdf.
Bullying.co.uk. (2018). Cyber bullying advice | Bullying UK. [online] Available at: https://www.bullying.co.uk/cyberbullying/what-is-cyberbullying/
Ysgol Ty Coch School. (2015). Digital Competency. [online] Available at: https://www.ysgoltycoch.co.uk/page/?title=Digital+Competency&pid=125
ResourcEd. (2018). School safeguarding: Everything you need to know about protecting pupils and lowering risk - ResourcEd. [online] Available at: https://resourced.prometheanworld.com/school-safeguarding-protecting-pupils-lowering-risk/.
NSPCC Learning. (2019). E-safety for schools | NSPCC Learning. [online] Available at: https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/research-resources/schools/e-safety-for-schools/.