Children need to be taught the importance of internet safety as early as nursery age according to an online safeguarding officer.
Jon Trew works with teachers, social workers and health visitors highlighting the importance of keeping children safe online.
Speaking on Safer Internet Day, he said: “We see children in pushchairs being handed tablets, using their parents’ mobile phones and playing online games. So, it’s important that it becomes a factor in primary school education, in reception and in nursery that we talk to children about keeping themselves safe.”
Matthew Gwyn Lloyd, project manager for a Welsh Government scheme called Digital Communities Wales, added that parents, as well as schools, should be responsible for ensuring children are safe on the internet.
“Parents need to be aware of where they can find good-quality resources online to use with their children. A lot of people are put off going online because of the risks, so we need to ensure that proper safeguards are put into place so that people can use the internet positively,” Mr Lloyd said.
Education Secretary, Kirsty Williams said the Welsh Government was working towards raising awareness of online safety.
“I am delighted to see that this year’s Safer Internet Day theme is ‘Create, Connect and Share Respect’,” Ms Williams said. “There is a huge amount of work going on in Wales to help keep learners safe online.
“As well as working on an Online Safety Action Plan for Wales, we have also launched an ‘Online Safety Zone’ on our digital learning platform, Hwb, developed a tool which helps schools evaluate their online safety practice and delivered over 180 training sessions for teachers and governors across all local authorities in Wales since 2014.”
“In addition, our Digital Competence Framework, the first element of the new curriculum to be introduced in Wales, includes specific elements on online behaviour, cyber bullying and health and well-being
