(B)e-safe Newsletter January 2015
supported by S.F.C.A.
Risk Aware or Risk Adverse
Do we block I.T. stop I.T. ban I.T.?
Or do make the effort and become more savvy with I.T. better understand I.T. and enjoy experiencing I.T. with our children and young people?
exploring and risk taking provides a young person with opportunity's to test their skills and abilities and discover who they are, but some risks can have harmful and lasting effects on the child or young person.
Foster care in this digital age can be difficult
Finding a balance between giving young people freedom and privacy online, while also developing boundaries and keeping an eye on them.
With a bit of planning and ongoing dialogue you can help minimise risks without restricting their opportunities.
Read full article Here
Gaming
Age related gaming - as carers and parents we are increasingly under pressure from children to be allowed to play games that are classified for an older age group,
"All their friends play on it"
"They are being left out of conversations by their friends"
"It's not that Bad" - are just a few of the ever increasing reasons being given as to why we should allow them to play the said game,
Personally we know of several parents that have given into this ongoing onslaught , this concerns us on several levels, firstly it increases our difficulty of explaining why the young person is not allowed on the said game, there is a greater risk that our child will get excess to the game via a friend, and the fact that most of the 18+ classified games come with a good mix of gratuitous violence that risks becoming normalised, Call of Duty and alike are riddled with bad language, sex and other adult themes.” not to mention the way the games reward a person for their excessive violence by going up a level ( we use to learn our tables at school by repetition ) does this same repetition in the game embed the violence on the young mind?
Find some tips and advice on managing gaming Here
Screen Time
How many screens are there in your house?
how many of these screens are assessable by the children in the house?
Screens = TV's - smart phones - Tablets - computers - hand held gaming
bet you have more than you thought,
How much time do the people in your home spend in front of screens yourself included
What do you think is a healthy time period to spend in front of a screen ?
do you multiscreen? - have the TV on while posting on a social media site.
Are there health and development issues?
"How much screen time is healthy for children" - Read more
Fun Stuff
TED talk - See invisible Motion - Hear silent sounds - well worth a little time, try it yourself