VIEWS & OPINION
Safeguarding Generation Z online
Comment by STELLA JAMES, founder of Gooseberry Planet
An alternative way to address social mobility
Comment by Professor SONIA BLANDFORD, CEO and Founder of Achievement for All
We are all very aware of how fast the internet is moving as we evolve into a heavily tech-based world. Our schools are now educating our children for jobs that don’t exist and I am not sure any of us really know what the future holds or what it will look like. As a parent, I face many challenges when it comes to keeping up with my own children’s use of the internet; for example, we all try filtering and blocking, but the truth is, you don’t even need broadband boxes to access the internet, just 3G or 4G. I firmly believe that the current methods of teaching online safety are old- fashioned, ineffective and do not reflect the world around us all. It is becoming more and more prevalent that some schools
comply with the minimum requirement for teaching online safety. Some feel that a policy is enough, whereas others do not even acknowledge it at all or recognise it as a priority. The statutory requirements in the 'Keeping Children in Education'
document focuses on teachers being trained in a variety of safeguarding issues and, as part of this, must now explicitly teach safeguarding issues in the classroom. From experience, this is clearly not the case, with some schools believing that delivering lessons about online safety once a year is adequate. In order for our children to change their digital habits, adopt
positive behaviours online and be responsible users of technology, we need a consistent and targeted approach, not just a one-off event or a list of rules they must adhere to. I’ve seen schools ask their children to act out scenarios in an assembly, but this doesn’t teach, it entertains. Is this just a way of just paying lip service to the increasing challenge of keeping children safe online? And it isn’t just the children we need to be teaching. As part of the process we have an obligation to also educate parents and teachers too, as they are a vital part of the jigsaw puzzle for an effective approach to online safety to ensure it is reinforced both in the classroom and at home. When teaching children how to change the batteries in a toy, we
physically show them. When we teach our children to cross the road, we physically hold their hand. Yet it seems ironic that as adults we feel it is acceptable to let children use the internet with no guidance. We often have a misplaced assumption that children always 'know more than us' when it comes to using technology. Therefore, it is our responsibility as parents and teachers to educate ourselves about the online world and share our learning alongside and, in partnership, with our children. We know that 59 per cent of 10 year olds have a Facebook
account, so let’s learn how to use it and show them in exactly the same way we would demonstrate something in the physical world. Let’s educate, not regulate. Let’s not stop them enjoying a
wonderful tool where we can all learn so much, let’s embrace the online world. The children of today do not see an online life and offline life: it is their life.
Having travelled around the UK, it is increasingly apparent to me that there are whole communities where there is no aspiration. Places where people don’t breathe. The Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission reported that there are areas across the UK where levels of poverty are increasing, the statistics are startling, 1 in 6 children are currently living in poverty. The issue here is intergenerational, the need to break this cycle is
self-evident. Families are desperate for change, desperate for a solution, an alternative way. Where business, charity and political leaders ‘join up’, working together to engage in new thinking. Leaders who are prepared to invest time and resources in education and the community, bringing together authentic partnerships that work with people, developing aspiration among parents and carers, children and young people - a sense of ‘can do’. Social Mobility is about aspiration, access and achievement; it is
about changing the way people think, act and engage, to understand that there an alternative way to live, that everyone can succeed. Children from working class, are starting from such a low
standpoint. Their accents, ability to socialise, to feel comfortable with themselves, all affect their social mobility. My own experience reflects this. When I was growing up I had no books, no pictures, no plants. I lived on a council estate where families had been moved because of the difficulties and challenges they faced. My mother died from an overdose as she couldn’t read the prescription on her medicine bottle. We are all wired differently and face different challenges. It’s not
about equal opportunities – rather everyone needs an opportunity to be equal. It’s about inclusion, whereby we choose to include. Where everyone is valued for what they can do. Teachers in the UK have an undeniably challenging job of
teaching our children and young people. Working in partnership with the third sector, business and the community, they can be supported to instil change, to make a real difference. Many are already engaged in such changes, leading programmes and sharing great practice and experience, but teaching professionals need to be supported. At Achievement for All we have been demonstrating how this
can be done. Over the past five years we have worked in 3,700 schools and settings, directly helping over 170,000 children and young people that have faced challenges, disadvantage and those experiencing special needs. Through our early years, schools and colleges programmes we have reached 3.86-million children and young people, their families and teaching professionals, changing thinking and improving outcomes in reading, writing, maths, behaviour and attendance. Developing self-belief, self-respect and a sense of ‘can do’. To achieve social mobility, we must engage in this new thinking,
an alternative way, developing aspirations, increase access and impact on achievement. It is incumbent on us all to prioritise children and young people’s right to an education that leads to success, regardless of their background, challenge or need. We need to act fast, we need to act now.
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www.education-today.co.uk January 2017
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