Parents Evening on the Topic of Internet and Big Data

Georgia primary school Children Seated Photo by CDC on Unsplash

Concerns about insufficient computer skills or a limited understanding about the online environment can be off-putting and sometimes frightening for parents/carers. Many parents believe that their children know more about the internet and technology than they do, and this can sometimes be a difficult issue to overcome. It is important to remind parents that online safety is more about parenting and communication skills than technology. Alternatively, some families may think they already do enough to protect their children by banning certain games or sites and installing filters or antivirus software onto home devices.

Unfortunately, this approach does not acknowledge that children could access the internet elsewhere or may intentionally bypass systems without parent’s knowledge.

Banning and blocking is not the answer. When working with parents, try to highlight the importance of maintaining open discussions and empowering children to make safer and more sensible choices online.

Learn More

Below are some tips on how to arrange Parents Evening on the Topic of Internet and Big Date for 7-12 year olds. Note in the resources section there are simple definition of Internet and Big Data, ensure you are familiar with these and able to articulate to parents in a simple way.

Start planning

Start with the organisational preparations for the parents' evening. Go back to the basic module Planning a Media Educational Parents' Evening to use the materials shown there.

Find your topic

Try not to overwhelm parents with too much information in one go! Do not forget you can use regular communication channels, such as, newsletters, emails, texts or letters home to share up-to-date online safety advice; this could include, weekly “tips" current trends or useful resources. Use the parents evening for a focused meeting

Think about the overall aim of your parents' evening.
Derive the key points of your parents' evening from this objective.
Choose two or three sub-issues to focus on during your parents' evening.

Inform parents about your parents' evening

Once you have found your topic for the parents' evening, booked, and set a venue and a date, it is time to inform parents about your parents' evening. You can invite parents via a simple letter and follow this up by an email/text message

Engage parents

The key to supporting children online is open and honest dialogue. Ask parents how they talk to their children about their online activity – what do they find does and doesn’t work. Show them the conversation starters and invite them to discuss which ones they could try next.

It may be useful to accompany your discussion with some leaflets hand-outs or video links which parents can take home. In the Resources section there are videos about Internet and Big Data, you can share this.

Ask for feedback

Be sure to ask parents for feedback on your parents' evening. You can use a standard questionnaire to gather feedback, or get parents to jot down on a sticky note and leave with you.

Exercise

Plan a (fictitious) parents' evening on the topic of Internet and Big data. This is a complex topic therefore provide some overview to parents what big data is and how it impacts all our lives. The document titled Growing Up in a Connected World: Understanding Children’s Risks and Opportunities in a Digital Age and Let's talk about life online will provide you with some great insight on the topic that can be shared with parents, its written in simple language.

Also, use the accompanying documents such as the planning sheet to plan your parents' evening. It will be helpful in arranging the logistics for the parents evening.

What you learn in this course

You'll be able to formulate subtopics of a parents' evening on the topic "Internet and Big Data (7-12 years)".
You'll be able to name the elements of a parents' evening on this topic.
You'll be able to describe methods for conducting a parents' evening on this topic.
You'll be able to compile the topic and the methods of a (fictitious) parents' evening with the help of the knowledge from Course 1 and Course 9.
You'll be able to name and correctly allocate the fields of application of the additional materials.
You'll be able to use the additional materials in a target-oriented way.
You'll be able to plan a (fictitious) parents' evening on the topic "Internet and Big Data (7-12 years)" with the help of the checklists and the planning sheet from course 1.
You'll be able to use additional materials and show possibilities for change.

Get ready: Tips for MediaParent consultants

What are the key messages we should be sharing with parents?

How and what are children accessing online

Highlight the range of different devices that have access to the internet and what children are using them for, e.g. mobile phones, games consoles and tablets - not just computers.

Ensure your information is up-to-date and relevant to your audience - you may find it helpful to survey the children for accurate information about the latest apps and games they like to use, remember young people keep up with trend more than us adults!

The internet has its good points

Ensure that you balance your approach and don’t just terrify parents; it’s important to acknowledge that for most children, their experiences and interactions online are positive!

Don’t over rely on blocks and filters

Remind parents that blocks and filters are never 100% and children may actively bypass these if they feel restricted or don’t understand why they are in place.

Highlight the importance of empowering children to be risk aware and telling a trusted adult when they are worried.

Practical advice and resources

Provide practical tips for online safety in the home, such as how to use filters, parental controls, etc. Make sure you also signpost to useful websites for parents to access online safety information in their own time (see useful links and resources are shared throughout this module).

When advertising online safety events

Try to avoid using terms such as ‘ICT’, ‘e-safety’ or ‘technology’ as this may be off-putting for some parents/carers. Setting policies and procedures. Whether you’re referring to cyberbullying or youth produced sexual imagery, inform parents of the internal procedures that are in place to support them and their child.