Children were able to pass on their digital skills to local residents and older members of the community at an internet safety event in Ulverston.
Year 6 pupils from Sir John Barrow School went along to the nearby Methodist Church to join older residents at their weekly coffee morning for the event hosted by Fibrus Broadband.
Jack and Liz Rice, members of the church congregation for more than 20 years, were among those at the event.
Royal Navy veteran Jack said: “Online safety does concern me because I’ve been scammed a couple of times in the past. I’m a bit more savvy than I was.
“I can see a benefit for us meeting younger people and exchanging views.”
Mary Procter, 81, said: “I’m not gullible now, I just put the phone down but I could have been scammed on the internet. There’s a lot for us to learn.”
The school pupils were given copies of the Surf Smart, Stay Safe booklet which has been produced by Fibrus Broadband and distributed to hundreds of pupils across Cumbria. It gives a timely reminder about the importance of staying safe online ahead of the summer holidays.
The 12-page booklet, produced by the Full Fibre provider with guidance from Cumbria Police, is full of puzzles, useful advice and topics to discuss, which helped spark lots of conversations at the event.
Among the children at the coffee morning was 11-year-old Erika who said: “It was fun because you could hear other people’s thoughts, people with a bit more experience, who could tell you some of what they have seen.
“I liked the booklet. It was really fun with the wordsearch, because it was quite hard. It is a really important subject and it can be quite dangerous online.”
Year 6 teacher James Maher said it had been a valuable experience for his pupils.
“The children had a chance to speak with the local community first, and then they were all given the booklets to reinforce the messages we are all trying to put across here.
He added: “We know they are going to be online. We know that they have access to it. So our job is not necessarily to scare them, it’s just to make them aware.
Cumbria Police also supported the event with DC Lee Clark, of the cyber and digital crime unit, taking time to sit with the children and those attending the coffee morning.
He said: “For the children, it’s learning to communicate what they’re learning and then the older age group will be picking up hints and tips on how young people are using technology.”
“We’ve also had an opportunity to speak to each of the groups about the challenges and risks and how best to keep themselves safe online.”
He added: “Fibrus has been really good at pulling the event together. The leaflets have been useful, covering some key points that they learn about in schools and that we also talk about as well.”
Fibrus Broadband has been building its network across rural Cumbria, with nearby Grange-over-Sands joining towns like Brampton, Whitehaven, Windermere and Cockermouth who are now connectable to its Full Fibre broadband network.
Linda McMillan, Group Chief People Officer, from Fibrus, said: “We’re so glad the children from Sir John Barrow have found our online safety booklet useful in this community event. From school visits to community coffee mornings like this one in Ulverston, it’s been fantastic to see young people sharing their digital knowledge and learning from adults too. These conversations are so important and we’re proud to be supporting communities in Cumbria to connect on and offline.”
