Safe online

By Kelly Yates
The students at the Narre Warren South school vowed to give cyber bullying the ‘click’ and stay safe on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace during the forum on Thursday 5 August.
Four students from the school, Chase, Ben, David and Matthew, joined more than 100 other students at the cyber safety forum, held at the MCG, to discuss their online experiences and ideas with Education Minister Bronwyn Pike.
Teacher Chris Trimnell from Strathaird Primary School said the boys were chosen to lead the other students in Grade 3 and 4 with a school project using the SuperclubsPlus website, which is a social networking site.
Ms Trimnell said the program provided a safe online environment.
“Students are encouraged to apply the same rules of SuperclubsPlus to any other online program they may use at home,” she said.
Ms Trimnell said the four students also helped the students achieve their cyber safety badges.
Ms Pike said the Years 3 to 10 students presented excellent strategies about what their school had done to encourage students to stay safe and act responsibly on the internet at the forum.
“We know that most young people use the internet on a daily basis at home, school and on their mobile phones,” Ms Pike said.
“Many students have active MySpace pages and Facebook accounts and are regular participants in the conversations that occur online. Unfortunately what starts as banter between students can sometimes turn into online bullying.”