Pupils wise up to online predators

MARTIN DE RUYTER/Nelson Mail

SAFER: Enner Glynn pupil Alex Wall uses the Simulate2educate programme run by John Parsons, rear.

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Computer-savvy pupils at Enner Glynn School now have all the skills they need to avoid falling prey to online predators.

The year 6 and 7 class has completed a four-hour Simulate2educate course, run by online safety expert John Parsons, in a first for the country.

The practical course taught the children to identify and guard against an online predator, recognise when the information they put online was too personal or dangerous, and how to avoid being taken in by online scams.

In one scenario, a class chat room was invaded by a teacher posing as another student, in an example that showed the pupils how easily an online identity could be faked.

Mr Parsons said he did not want to be "all doom and gloom", but young people needed to recognise how important internet safety was.

"It is real. There are people in Europe who have gone missing because of things on the internet. We have lost people, people have lost their lives."

He had recently been helping a Nelson family whose daughter had been targeted by an online predator overseas, and it was an extremely difficult situation to work through, he said.

Another issue was teens' online identities affecting their chances at real-world employment, he said.

Mr Parsons said he knew of about 30 Nelson teens who had struggled to get jobs because of content, like pictures of a night out, that their friends had posted online.

Employers routinely researched potential employees on Facebook, and embarrassing or offensive photos could cost a young person a chance at a job, he said.

"The value of a person's identity is only known when it's been tarnished. If we get to children before they get the camera and the cellphone then we can avoid some of these things later on," he said.

Teacher Wendy Hancock said the course had been excellent learning both for herself and her students.

"It's really relevant learning, and because it was relevant they took it onboard."

Cameron Mayes, 10, said he was a regular internet user, but had not realised how unsafe it could be. "I thought it was very safe but Mr Parsons surprised me."

Despite the seriousness of the content, Cameron had not been put off using the web, and would recommend the programme to other kids.

"There's some very useful information because lots of people all around the world are being killed or other nasty stuff because of this."

Xan Twissell, 9, said she had learnt about how predators targeted children.

"At first I thought it was just about Facebook but then I learnt about chat rooms and email that can be forwarded to people. I found out that predators didn't just look at information, they also tried to get information out of you."

Mr Parsons said he hoped to run the course at Enner Glynn School again next year, and take it to other schools if possible.

More information is at simulate2educate.co.nz.

- © Fairfax NZ News