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submitted: 2008-04-13 19:23:52 | by: TedHastings
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The report of the Byron Review, "Safer Children in a Digital World" has generally been well-received, and rightly so. It offers a balanced view which takes account of both the dangers and the benefits of children using the internet, and it makes a number of useful and practical suggestions which could be implemented to reduce the dangers.

However, the report suffers from one glaring omission - it completely fails to mention that a certificated Internet Safety course has been available from the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) since 2006 and is widely taught in Scottish schools. It is believed to be the only course of its type developed by a national awarding body in the EU.

The course isn't just for schoolchildren. Many further education colleges offer it as an evening class for adults, including parents, teachers and youth workers. Strathclyde Police Force use it for training police cadets and it has also been taught to around 4000 pupils in Manchester schools. A complete online package of teaching and assessment materials is available from SQA and a purpose-written textbook entitled "Internet Safety Skills" has been published by leading Scottish educational publishers, Leckie and Leckie.

The omission of the course from the report is puzzling, especially since various other examples of good practice are described, including one from Ireland. Dr. Byron emphasises the importance of improved education for both children and parents throughout the report, but does not mention that a suitable course, complete with all the required materials, is already available.

Every Education Authority in the UK could adopt this course immediately, instead of waiting, perhaps for years, until alternative courses are developed. This action could reduce the exposure of millions of children to online dangers and increase parents' knowledge of Internet hazards and the precautions that should be taken to minimise them.

The SQA course is interesting and engaging, while remaining highly practical. It provides information about the safety precautions which should be taken when using the Internet, and gives students practical experience in taking these. It is suitable for a variety of individuals, especially young people, parents and mature Internet users.

The first part of the course considers the threats that can exist when using the Internet, including malicious programs (eg: viruses, trojans, worms, adware, spyware and rogue diallers), hackers, spam, phishing, identity theft and emerging threats such as ransomware. It emphasises threats to user safety including grooming, inappropriate behaviour and cyberbullying, and notes that these threats can appear in a variety of contexts, eg: social networking sites, chat rooms, e-mail and instant messaging.

The second part examines the safety precautions which should be taken including anti-virus and e-mail filtering software, firewalls and Internet security suites. It also looks at precautions for maintaining user safety including proxy servers, content labelling and filtering, monitoring and reporting user behaviour and withholding personal information.

The third section covers the legal aspects of using the Internet, including copyright, data protection, digital rights management and software licensing (such as freeware and shareware), legal constraints on the construction of websites, including disability discrimination legislation, and legislation relating to illegal content such as terrorist, pornographic and racist material. It also discusses child protection legislation which prohibits grooming and inappropriate behaviour towards minors.

The fourth and final section gives students practical experience in taking appropriate safety precautions. They are expected to demonstrate that they can install and configure anti-virus and anti-spyware programs, firewalls, spam filters and internet security suites and to show that they can take precautions for maintaining user safety, including content filtering, proxy servers, monitoring and reporting user behaviour and withholding personal information.

Many people will be happy to simply follow the content of the course and improve their knowledge of Internet Safety. Those who wish to do so can be assessed and, if successful, be awarded a certificate by SQA. The assessment consists a short multiple choice test, which can be taken online, and a log recording the practical work carried out during the course, which can be submitted in electronic format, eg: as a blog or an online portfolio.

About the Author

Ted Hastings is an eduacation and IT consultant with more than 35 years of experience. He writes a popular blog entitled Surf Safely. The Internet Safety course is available online from Millennium City Academy. You can get a unique content version of this article from the Uber Article Directory.

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