(Updated 6th October 2012)
e-Safety is one of those topics which is difficult to promote in a positive light, after all what we are discussing is generally about online dangers and risks to children. Ofsted raised the e-safety bar in September and have put (more) considerable pressure on schools, and have also made it very clear that schools should be engaging with the whole community on this issue, and that creates a bit of a conundrum: how do you promote something positively when by its very nature it is negative, and how do you engage with those parents?
Parental engagement by schools is very difficult at the best of times; engagement with topics such as e-safety is nigh on impossible. Events such as this are rarely attended; a colleague of mine does roughly 10 parents evenings a month and attendance is usually between 0 and 6 parents despite the hard work by school staff to try and promote the event.
So, how can we turn this around? Let’s first of all bullet-point some of the reasons parents don’t turn up:
- Too busy or working away from home, i.e. armed forces.
- A boring subject.
- How can my children be in danger when they are safely in the house?
- I already know all about it, I’m not going to learn anything new.
- That’s your (the school’s) responsibility (!!).
Do any of those ring any bells? There are more but those above are the usual reasons you will hear.
I have always believed that e-safety is not a subject in its own right; it is not something that should be treated in a singularity. In the same way that technology, the computer, the iPad etc. are just tools, e-safety in itself is a toolbox of many tools. To use an analogy, I don’t go to evening classes to learn how to use a hammer. I use that hammer to “do something”, and by doing something I learn how to use the hammer and different types of hammer properly in different situations.
To move that on a stage further there is another side to this – promoting the negatives. Time after time I see others who continue to promote the negatives of e-safety in order to try and scare people into action. That is incredibly damaging; I have spoken to schools who say they have stopped doing anything innovative because they are scared of the liabilities; parents who have stopped their children from using their laptop or playing online games on their new X-Box. This is a massive step backward for the school and for the children. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not belittling the risks and dangers, but promoting the negatives doesn’t do anybody any good. What we should be doing is promoting the positives, raising awareness of the negatives.
So, back to the original reason for this blog – how do we try to engage with parents more effectively about e-safety?
Here’s two examples for you to consider: use social networks; use another event as a lead-in.
Use Social Networks
Many schools are already using social media positively. In the context of this post schools are using Facebook and Twitter as “broadcast” services. In other words one-way communication from the school to the parents. That is great in so many ways: you will target a larger audience (no more letters getting lost on the way home); parents far more likely to read it (whether at home or working away from home); cost savings in terms of time, paper, printing, and much much more. You could use this to periodically insert e-safety messages and build community awareness. For example: what are the latest risks, how do you mitigate risks, how does the school keep children safe etc.
Use a lead-in event
Parents are far more likely to attend an event if it is something that grabs their attention. By way of example Daniel Edwards (@syded06 on Twitter) works at a school in Buckinghamshire that is currently trialling an iPad 1:1 scheme. This is a huge attention grabber and parents are going to be extremely interested in this, as are the children. Using this example your school could invite parents in to learn all about the scheme; you will want to concentrate on the positives of the scheme, make parents aware of what the outcomes are expected to be (more engaging, positive curriculum, collaboration and innovation), but also ensure parents are told how the children are being taught an essential life skill, i.e. e-safety. At this point, you have their attention and you can continue this in one of two ways: use that session to raise the e-safety issues with parents (promoting how the school is empowering the children with that knowledge), or use that session as a lead-in to a further parental engagement evening.
Try to be creative. Your parents evening doesn’t have to be about anything technology related. For example parents love to see their children in plays. So how about a drama session where online risks are interpreted into real life, for example cyberbullying and bullying.
Another way of engaging is by a newsletter. You may already have a school newsletter, you may be thinking of one. I already have a fortnightly e-safety newsletter which is specifically for schools and I now have a monthly e-safety newsletter for parents (both are free) which you can distribute. You can download and/or subscribe to these newsletters here.
In summary, the main points to take away for consideration are:
- Schools have to engage with the whole community about e-safety (or rather the risks to children’s online activities).
- Engaging with parents is the most difficult element so try to be creative how you do this. Take the examples above and tailor them for your school. Try not to use e-safety in a singularity, use a lead-in event.
- Don’t use scaremongering as a way of engaging; it doesn’t work.
- Promote the positives of technology use, raise the awareness of risks, and dispel the myths.
- Sign up for the free newsletters here.
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