The Mayo News

A seminar on internet safety held last week has been deemed a huge success by the organisers.
Parents flock to internet safety seminar

Anton McNulty

A SEMINAR on internet safety held in the Mayo Education Centre last week was deemed a huge success by the organisers, and plans are in the pipeline to bring similar seminars around the county.
The two-hour presentation was organised by the National Parents’ Council and the Mayo Education Centre to help parents learn more about responsible internet use in the home as well as the dangers of cyber bullying and unsupervised access to internet sites. The presentation demonstrated how the popular social networking site, Bebo, operates and offered tips on ensuring children are safe while on-line.
A crowd of over 60 people turned up on the night, which was far more than what was expected. Caroline Lane of the National Centre of Technology and Education, who gave the presentation, told The Mayo News that the seminar was a huge success and explained that the feedback from the parents was very positive.
“There was huge interest in the seminar and a lot more turned up than what we were expecting. I think the interest comes from the fact that Bebo is so popular at the moment and kids are so confident on computers, there is a fear among parents because they don’t know much about it. The feedback at the end of the night was very positive and parents were saying they felt more confident about talking about the internet. It is all about ensuring that parents know their children are safe on-line,” she said.
Caroline explained that parents at the seminar were worried about what their children were doing on the internet. She explained that websites like webwise.ie, saferinternet.org and watchyourspace.ie offer information on how to ensure you are safe while online.
“Surveys in the past have shown that huge numbers of kids surf on-line but huge percentages of parents don’t ask their children what they do on the internet. Older teenagers and people in their twenties generally use Bebo to keep in touch with their friends but early and pre-teens use it to make contact with people they never met before. The advice I give is to only talk to people you have met in real life and ensure that their page is private. It is better for parents and their children to use the internet and be safe rather than avoiding the issue,” she said.
Caroline explained that since she got involved in the programme, people as far away as Donegal and Sligo have asked her to give talks on the subject. She said there is a huge interest among parents about internet safety and feels that more seminars could be arranged for around the county.
“The good thing about the seminar was that the National Parents’ Council were paying for it and entry was free. I think it would be a good idea for it to be brought to places like Achill and Belmullet,” she said.

If you are interested in organising a seminar on internet safety in your area you can contact Caroline by calling the Mayo Education Centre at 094 9020700.

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