Cyber-safety Symposium Report

Transcription

1 Cyber-safety Symposium Report PART 1: INTRODUCTION There is a growing awareness in Australia and overseas of the rapid growth of Information and Communications Technology (ICT). There is also a strong perception that the relatively unsupervised access by many young people to internet and mobile phone technology exposes them to a range of significant risks, including cyber-bullying, sexual predation and antisocial and harmful behaviours. The National Coalition Against Bullying (NCAB) through its parent body, The Alannah and Madeline Foundation, supported by the Centre for Strategic Education (CSE), convened a two-day cyber-safety symposium on May 2007 at Camberwell Grammar School, Canterbury, Melbourne. Delegates representing a diverse range of interest groups, including education, welfare, industry, government, police, parents, students and not-for-profit sectors came together to help define and find solutions for this significant societal problem. The delegates agreed that success in addressing the issues surrounding cyber-safety required a coordinated, collaborative and strategic national approach inclusive of all levels of government and beyond individual interest groups and party politics. A coalition of key stakeholders must work together to develop a national framework to ensure our children participate in a cyber-safe environment. Cyber-Safety Symposium Day 1 The Cyber-Safety Symposium was opened on Thursday 17 May by Former Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia, the Hon Alastair Nicholson AO RFD QC and facilitated by Jason Clark of Minds at Work. Day 2 Day 2 was a problem-solving day in which awareness of the issue, definition of the problem(s), the understanding of cause and effect, and development of possible strategies occurred. After being introduced to several problem-solving techniques, delegates then formed groups to look at seven possible issues emerging from the previous day s presentations. Page 1

2 These were 1. Giving kids a voice, not just within their families but to other audiences 2. Parent disengagement/fear of technology 3. Parent/teacher/community connectedness and communications 4. The need to understand kids culture 5. Social competency and causes of behaviour (i.e. does lack of social competency cause negative behaviour on and off the internet?) 6. Responses to bullying and violence 7. The part played by geography global and local From these broad discussions, some possible directions were canvassed to help create an informed cyber-safety teamwork culture involving: 1. The establishment of a central coalition 2. The collection of current information/research 3. The development of on and offline tools in appropriate formats for different audiences 4. The involvement of the community in delivery methods 5. Use of common sense in developing advice for parents Certain factors were held to be unassailable: a. All development must be done in conjunction with young people b. A balanced picture must include positive stories and messages c. Appropriate behaviours must be modelled by adults/mentors d. Approaches to involve all stakeholders e. Critical thinking skills to be taught in schools. Page 2

3 PART 2: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The following recommendations have been made: Cyber-safety Coalition 1. Establish a coalition of stakeholders Parents 1. Take responsibility for ensuring their children s cyber-safety when using these technologies and treat cyber-safety issues in the same way they would about other safety matters e.g. drug use or safe sex 2. Are aware of and monitor their children s activities and usage 3. Have a clear internet and mobile phone agreements in the home and work to see that these are adhered to 4. Are aware of the wide range of available resources to help them manage their children s internet use 5. Maintain open communication with their children about issues pertaining to ICT use. Students 1. Understand the consequences of cyber-bullying and harassment and the severe personal and societal implications of this behaviour 2. Understand that they may be breaking the law and that there are legal penalties for cyber-bullying and other harmful and illegal online or mobile phone activities 3. Are aware that the cyber-environment is not private and their online activities can be traced 4. Are involved in seeking solutions and in developing Cyber-safety strategies. Schools 1. Schools have a duty of care to create a safe environment for their students and staff. Cyber-safety is a part of this expectation 2. As part of a whole-school wellbeing focus, schools develop acceptable internet use policies and implementation guidelines that are understood and agreed to by the whole school community 3. Schools continue to promote the Nine Values for Australian Schooling (Government of Australia) or work consultatively with their communities to develop their own agreed set of values 4. Measure and monitor the effectiveness of cyber-safety policies and work as a whole community to address any issues. Federal and State Government 1. Continue to support Australia-wide consistency and accountability in safe and responsible use of ICT 2. Provide funding to support schools to implement cyber-safety/internet use policies, strategies, counselling and professional development for principals and teachers (both pre-and in-service) Page 3

4 3. Continue to provide resources and education for young people, families, communities and businesses about safe internet usage 4. Federal, State and Territory governments work cooperatively to develop integrated formal cyber-safety curriculum that can be embedded via an interdisciplinary approach, and which encourages student led participation Legal responses 1. Draft legislation to ensure a legal framework to manage cyber-abuse that crosses state and political boundaries. 2. Create a nationally coordinated cyber-policing plan involving all jurisdictions. Involvement of industry 1. Contribute to the development and implementation of solutions where the safety of children and young people is the primary goal 2. Take charge of key messages and initiatives at point of sale and online e.g. Microsoft Security. Research 1. Review current research and data on cyber-safety in both Australia and overseas, identifying gaps and where further research is needed. 2. Conduct further research within Australia to inform future planning for cybersafety. Page 4

5 PART 3: IMPLEMENTATION CYBERSAFETY COALITION 1. Establishment of a coalition of stakeholders The Symposium proposes the establishment of a national, multidisciplinary, cross-sector and non-partisan Cyber-safety Coalition. This body will provide leadership, research capability and become a centre of excellence. UNDERPINNING PARAMETERS All action must be done in conjunction with young people There must be a balance of positive stories and messages Desired behaviour must be modelled by adults Any response must be coordinated, cross-sectoral and un-fragmented PARENTS 1. Take responsibility for their children s cyber-safety when using these technologies and treat cyber-safety issues in the same way they would about other safety matters e.g. drug use or safe sex Need to be made aware of the potentially harmful effect on their children of extensive and/or unsupervised use of internet and mobile phone technology, and the range of risks their children potentially face Need to know that on line parenting uses similar strategies to off line parenting in which communication is the key and a variety of key messages can readily be developed to assist parents understanding. Parents also need to support schools in their endeavours to manage these technologies. 2. Are aware of and monitor their children s activities and usage Provide instructions and information to help parents to access, monitor and manage their children s activities and usage of internet and mobile phone technologies easily and effectively. 3. Have clear understandings and agreements within the family about acceptable internet and mobile phone use Establish agreements within the family is most effective in the context of respectful communication and behaviour-modelling by adults. Some families may wish to formalise such agreements in writing. A number of such contracts/agreements are already available on such sites as microsoft.com Page 5

6 4. Are aware of the wide range of available resources available to help them manage their children s internet use such as: Publicity about and provision of net-filtering resources is already in the Federal Government s response to Cybersafety. However, as emphasised at the Symposium, these are more effective with younger children. We suggest that children and young people be encouraged and educated to take responsibility for their own use of ICT and online behaviour. Filtering software can also be applied in age-appropriate ways: Under 7: high settings combined with education about good practice and resilient and responsible behaviours while using technology Over 7 mid-adolescence: medium settings, combined with values- based education building personal responsibility for online behaviour Mid-adolescence 18: low settings, together with an expectation that these young adults will increasingly adopt a guardianship role toward younger students/siblings, reinforced by cyber-safety curriculum and community education 5. Maintain open communication with their children about issues pertaining to ICT use Many children and young people are reluctant to tell their parents about cyber-bullying and other forms of online abuse fearing that access to their social networks will be removed. Parents need to be supported to communicate effectively with their children on mobile phone and internet use (gaming, chat rooms, messages, keeping personal details private, voice masking, responding to unwelcome attention, combating addiction). Through community education initiatives, parents can be given a range of strategies and activities to help them teach their children the prosocial skills that underpin values. STUDENTS 1. Understand the consequences of cyber-bullying and other harmful behaviours and the severe personal and societal consequences this can have The consequences of cyber-bullying and other online abuse can be severe in the short and longer term for perpetrators of abuse and their targets, whole-school wellbeing and communities. There is good evidence suggesting that those who engage in antisocial behaviour unchecked at school often continue this behaviour in their adult lives. 2. Understand that they may be breaking the law and that there are legal penalties for cyber-bullying and other harmful online or mobile phone activities Page 6

7 A campaign publicising consequences for breaking the laws relating to cyber use would be part of any government cyber-safety strategy, with messages reinforced by the family and through school curricula. 3. Are aware that the cyber-environment is not private and their online activities can be traced The cyber world is a public domain and online activities leave digital footprints which can reveal the identity of those who engage in behaviour that is abusive to others or harmful to themselves. Students need a clear understanding of this, through school curricula and public advertising. 4. Are involved in seeking solutions and in developing cyber-safety strategies Young people are very expert at manipulating these technologies but may not have the emotional or intellectual readiness for experiences they may encounter online. However, they must be involved in the development of responses to the range of identified concerns. SCHOOLS 1. Schools have a duty of care to create a safe environment for their students and staff. Cyber-safety is a part of this expectation The National Safe Schools Framework provides a template for action; however, ongoing support is needed for schools to develop action plans and a range of strategies for the creation of Cybersafe environments.. 2. As part of a whole-school Wellbeing focus, support schools in the development of acceptable internet use policies and implementation guidelines that are understood and agreed to by the whole school community Policies are most effective when they are developed collaboratively, with the involvement of all school and community members. The development of such policies by all schools could be mandated by Federal and State Governments and perhaps be tied to school funding. Young people are very expert at manipulating these technologies but may not have the emotional or intellectual readiness for experiences they may encounter online. However, successful development of responses to the range of identified concerns must incorporate young people s input. 3. Schools continue to promote the Nine Values for Australian Schooling (Government of Australia) or work consultatively with their communities to develop their own agreed set of values Page 7

8 Most members of the Symposium were unaware of the Federal Government s work in the area of values. The work currently being done by schools to teach children particularly in the Values Framework Best Practice Grants Project should receive a higher profile. (However, research shows that young people Generation Y refer less to core societal values than to the agreed values of their peer group and it would be prudent to recognise this when developing programs.) (Mc Crindle, M, 2002) 4. Measure and monitor the effectiveness of cyber-safety policies and work as a whole community to address any issues A user-friendly evaluative toolkit in text and online versions to be developed and made available to all schools. FEDERAL and STATE GOVERNMENT 1. Continue to support Australia-wide consistency and accountability in safe and responsible use of ICT Federal and State Governments have already developed a range of responses. Development and coordination of further responses are called for, involving a coordinated, collaborative and strategic national approach inclusive of all levels of government and beyond individual interest groups and party politics. 2. Provide funding to support schools to implement policies, strategies, counselling and professional development for principals and teachers (both pre-and in-service) Provide further support to schools to undertake the above tasks as a matter of urgency. Despite significant input from State and Federal governments, many teachers still lack skills and understandings. Course material for pre-service teachers, current teachers and principals needs to be reviewed and/or redeveloped. Encourage and reward the development of anti-bullying and safe school initiatives by schools. Develop a safe school accreditation scheme on the lines of the Sun- Smart initiative, incorporating school bullying and cyber-safety issues. 3. Continue to provide resources and education for young people, families, communities and businesses about safe internet usage Education for parents and young people about safe ICT usage needs to be developed together with an action plan for their delivery. Key messages for parents can readily be developed and implemented in Australia. 4. Federal, State and Territory governments develop integrated formal cyber-safety curriculum taught across key learning areas, encouraging student led participation Page 8

9 An integrated cyber-safety curriculum to be taught across the key learning areas in every state and territory and involve the development of values, critical thinking as well as resilience skills and competencies. Student leadership and participation is also an important key to the success of such initiatives. LEGAL RESPONSES 1. Draft legislation to ensure a legal framework to manage cyber-abuse that crosses state and political boundaries Federal and State and Territory government convene a working group involving other stakeholders to consider an appropriate legislative response to cyber-bullying and bullying in general in our schools. Because of the lack of boundaries for the abuse that occur online and with mobile phones, all Australians need to be confident that consistent rules and consequences will apply in all states and territories. 2. Create a nationally coordinated cyber-policing plan involving all jurisdictions People who have been the victims of cyber abuse need a dedicated body to which they can address concerns and complaints, and which has the expertise to remove offending material and prosecute offenders rapidly. INDUSTRY INVOLVEMENT 1. Contribute to developing and implementing solutions where the safety of children and young people is the primary goal With key stakeholders organise a national symposium along the lines of the recent Melbourne Symposium, in partnership with young people, to encourage further discussion and cooperation and the development of further strategic responses. 2. Take charge of key messages and initiatives at point of sale and online e.g. Microsoft Security While parts of the corporate and industrial sectors have already made a range of proactive responses, a more unified, coordinated response and perhaps development of a regulatory framework is necessary. Page 9

10 RESEARCH Current research undertaken in Australia remains scarce. The Symposium revealed an urgent need for data on cyber issues to be collected in Australian schools and communities. 1. Review current research and data on cyber-safety in both Australia and overseas, identifying gaps and where further research is needed It is recognised that there is a scarcity of research conducted in Australia on cyber-safety. This conclusion has been supported by NCAB members who are eminent researchers in the field. 2. Conduct further research in Australian situations to inform future directions and planning Page 10