Children in Cockermouth are among hundreds across Cumbria who have been getting a timely reminder about the importance of staying safe online thanks to Fibrus Broadband.
During the summer holidays, many children are likely to be spending a lot of time online so Fibrus, with guidance from Cumbria Police, have produced a fun and engaging booklet full of puzzles and useful advice.
The 12-page pamphlet has been distributed to hundreds of children across the county and Fibrus have also teamed up with the police to drop in on some schools to discuss online safety.
At Eaglesfield Paddle Church of England School near Cockermouth, year four pupils had a lesson with PR Emma Fearon, PCSO Pete Nichol and Fibrus.
They used the Surf Smart, Stay Safe booklet, produced by Fibrus, and had fun with its wordsearch which proved to be a good way of sparking conversations about the topics in the booklet such as cyberbullying and choosing safe passwords.
PCSO Nichol focused on one of the key messages about staying safe online, telling the children that if they were contacted by strangers online, which can happen if they are playing games like Roblox, they should tell a trusted adult, such as their parents or a teacher.
“Being online is going to be a major part of these children’s lives, so events like this to reinforce key messages are really useful,” he said.
Headteacher Dawn Watson was delighted to have another chance to reinforce the school’s work on online safety.
“Having an event like this reinforces that learning. Hearing advice from the police and Fibrus helps to deepen that understanding and children might ask questions they might not ask a teacher. It is a really valuable opportunity for us to work together to keep those children safe online,” she said.
Other schools involved in the campaign include St Bridget’s CE School, Brigham; Broughton Primary, Great Broughton; Lorton School; and Bridekirk Dovenby CE Primary School
Detective Constable Lee Clark, of Cumbria Police’s cyber and digital crime unit, said the booklet, school visits and church coffee mornings where the children got to chat with older people about online safety were really valuable.
He said: “They are an opportunity to speak about the challenges and risks and how best to keep themselves safe online.
“Fibrus has been really good at pulling the events together. The leaflets have been useful, covering some key points that they learn about in schools and that we also talk about as well.”
Linda McMillan, Group Chief People Officer , from Fibrus, said: “We’re so glad that children all around Cumbria are finding our online safety booklet useful. From community coffee mornings to school visits like this one in Cockermouth, 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.”
