Online Safety
Online Hate
In today's digital era, guiding children and young people through the online landscape is imperative for parents. It's crucial to assist them in evaluating and reflecting critically on the content they come across online, as well as to emphasise the significance of their own online interactions and their potential effects on others.
Online hate encompasses any derogatory content targeting individuals or groups due to their race, religion, ethnicity, disability, or gender. Talk to your young person about online hate rather than waiting for an incident to occur. Initiate conversations about respectful online behaviour regularly, and use real-life examples or news stories to illustrate the impact of online hate.
Tips for parents from Internet Matters:
- Model and encourage your young person to treat others as they want to be treated.
- Advise your young person not to spread hateful or threatening content online but to report it.
- Encourage your young person to have an open attitude and honest curiosity about other people because some instances of hate speech are based on ignorance or false information.
- Be attentive to terms that might creep into your young person's vocabulary. Sometimes they use harmful terms without realising.
- Expect that they will respect other online users and to think before making a comment, sharing an image or sending a message.
By engaging in open and honest conversations with your young person about online hate, you can help empower them to navigate the digital world safely and responsibly while promoting kindness and respect online.
Read more at eSafety about Online hate.
If you have any concerns about your young person please contact the College. It is important for St Paul's to know about any wellbeing issues that may impact on learning and behaviour at school.