"Click Clever, Click Safe": internet safety lessons for UK Primary Schools

I just got my first (long-awaited) letter from the teenage girl whose education I sponsor in Uganda. Judging from the excellent English and beautiful handwriting, my money is being put to good use. But I was really alarmed that she included both her email address and her Yahoo password. Clearly internet safety is not on the curriculum in that part of Africa.

Which made the news today that lessons in using the internet safely are set to become a compulsory part of the curriculum for primary schoolchildren in England from 2011 all the more welcome.

The lessons are one element of a new government strategy being unveiled called "Click Clever, Click Safe". Children will also be encouraged to follow an online "Green Cross Code" and block and report inappropriate content. The "Zip it, Block it, Flag it" campaign is intended for use by schools, retailers and social networks, although it will be up to individual sites to choose how they use it. The campaign intends to encourage children to not give out personal information on the web, block unwanted messages on social networks and report any inappropriate behaviour to the appropriate bodies, which may include the website, teachers or even police.

Currently only secondary school pupils are taught about internet safety. Under the new proposals, online safety would be taught to all pupils from the age of five in England as part of their personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE), which includes drug awareness, bullying, sex education, healthy living and personal finance.

It is very true that more and more is being squeezed into an already over-crowded curriculum. This news therefore can’t be wholly good for over-stretched teachers, who it seems are being given responsibility for more and more of a child’s development.

However, these youngsters are already having lessons in IT skills, and the internet (and its dangers) will inevitably be a major part of their lives. I would argue that internet safety should be an integral part of those IT lessons, and furthermore that clear safety information is sent home in school bags (in translation where necessary) so that we can educate the parents. Reaching the parents of primary age children – many of whom will not be internet-savvy - is the hard part, but it is really where the government needs to focus its educational message in order to have the work of schools reinforced.

New research published today shows that 18 per cent of young people said they had come across harmful or inappropriate content online, with 33 per cent of children saying their parents don’t really know what they do on the internet. Soon parents will be able to access a one-stop shop website for internet safety advice hosted by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre (CEOP) – but first they have to know about it, and know why they need to educate themselves.

The "Click Clever, Click Safe" measures have been drawn up by the UK Council on Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS), a body set up following the Tanya Byron report, comprising 140 organisations, working to update a self-regulatory code of conduct governing online behaviour. eModeration’s CEO Tamara Littleton is on the subcommittee overseeing the revision of the Home Office moderation guidelines. It holds its first annual summit in London today and more information about its work can be found here. You can also follow today’s events via the @DcsfGovUk Twitter feed and you will also be able to see videos on YouTube and photos on Flickr post-event.