Supporting kids’ online safety with Optus Digital Thumbprint

In time for September’s National Child Protection Week, we look at how we’re helping keep kids safe online.

With so much of kids’ education and social life online these days, it’s more important than ever to protect our young people across the digital world.

National Child Protection Week (5-11 September) reminds us that we need to continually be vigilant about protecting kids and keeping them safe online. We’re helping to support online safety with a free, interactive Cyber Security workshop that explores:

• Steps we can take to ensure our safety, including privacy settings
• Tips for how to manage your online profile security, including strong passwords
• Communicating safely on games and social media
• Reporting and blocking inappropriate contact

As part of the award-winning Optus Digital Thumbprint, the digital citizenship program teaches young Australians to be safe, responsible and positive online.  The Cyber Security workshop is the latest in a series of workshops that also covers cyberbullying and respectful relationships, online identity, balancing screen time, and tips to determine the truth online.

Meet Helen Maisano

According to Helen Maisano, Director of Sustainability at Optus, “The Digital Thumbprint program has engaged over 390,000 Australian students since starting in 2013. Through Digital Thumbprint, we support young people to participate safely online, ensuring everyone has the tools they need for positive, responsible and authentic experiences online.

“With more of young people’s lives being spent online for schooling, socializing, and gaming, the Digital Thumbprint program provides information to support students to practice safe habits and know how and where to seek help when it’s needed.” Helen says.

Education and awareness is key

The digital world offers kids so much opportunity for their education and development. At the same time, kids are kids and may not have the same level of informed discernment as adults.

“It’s very important for parents to be aware of the risks so they can help keep their kids safe online,” Helen continues.

“Many are not aware that some 30% of Aussie teens are being contacted online by strangers or people they don’t know according to research by the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation. Yet only 3 per cent of parents surveyed listed online grooming as a concern and 51 per cent of participants did not know what they could do to keep children safe from online child sexual exploitation,” she says.

“Also, it may surprise parents that when their child is gaming online, they may be unknowingly interacting with strangers that are considerably older. In fact, the average age of online gamers is 33! This is very concerning as kids may feel it’s safe to game with strangers particularly if they have a higher skill level. Unfortunately, with an online activity in common, this can provide an opportunity for grooming to occur.

“The best defence is to be aware of your child’s online activity and to educate your kids on how to be safe online,” she says.
“Remind your young people to never speak with someone they don’t know online – including in games or fun apps. They never know who they’re speaking with and these apps sometimes do not allow them to be ‘private’ or disable the chat during a game.”

“Kids should never share personal information in a chat, especially with someone they don’t know in real life.”

“Consider if someone does not chat with their real voice, or doesn’t seem to be who they say they are – kids should not engage in these conversations, and they can report anything suspicious to the game or app,” Helen says.

ONLINE SAFETY TIPS - GAMING

Parents could take the following actions for their child to reduce risk while online gaming:

• Block the chat function
• Set your child up in a private gaming room with only their friends
• Block comments, video chats, or live streaming
• Prohibit purchases or transactions
• Limit data used by the app or site
• Set alerts to inform you of their behaviours – such as purchases, time spent on the game etc
• Check browsing or viewing histories

According to Helen, online grooming and sexual exploitation of children is a difficult and distressing issue.

“Understandably some parents may feel inadequate in knowing how to protect their children. Education and awareness can, however, bring a sense of empowerment and provide parents with the tools needed to ensure the online safety for their children.”

“By finding out what they can do to protect their kids online, parents can choose the right way to discuss online safety with their kids in a positive and enabling way.”

“A balanced and informed approach may help them to broach the subject with their kids to help keep them safe from online sexual predators,” she says.

SIGNS BE AWARE OF  – ONLINE EXPLOITATION

There are signs to be aware of regarding online grooming.  Some could be due to other issues going on, but look out for significant changes and patterns of behaviour:

·     Unexplained relationships with older people or new friends they don’t know in person

·     A change in the use of words/language the child uses 

·     Showing sexual behaviours which is not in line with their age/stage of development 

·     Changes in their online habits – spending more/less time online, only being online in private 

·     They have unexplained gifts, expensive clothes, mobile phones 

·     Unexplained money or frequently taking part in activities requiring money 

·      Changes in mood, behaviour and/or eating habits 

·      Always tired 

·      Staying out late, not returning home 

·      Change in appearance or borrowing clothes from others 

·      Truancy or drop in performance at school 

·       Regularly using drugs or drinking alcohol 

How to report
If you find your child is a victim of child exploitation, there are several steps you can take.

1. Take a screenshot and save the information. This is important as evidence to share with the authorities and it may disappear if you block the offender.
2. Report to:

• eSafety Commissioner
• Australian Federal Police
• Australia Centre to Counter Child Exploitation
• Directly to the app that the child was using

Keep in mind, if the offender knows you have blocked them, they may delete their account or change their details to avoid being caught by the authorities. If you report and block the offender before securing the evidence, you may lose access to it, so please save it first.

What to do if you need help?

If you’re not sure how to support your child, Kids Helpline is always there. They’re a free, confidential, anonymous phone counselling service for children and young people aged 5 – 25. Talking to someone is a great way for young people to work through feelings and concerns, and Kids Helpline are there if you feel like your child is struggling or needs someone to talk to.

The Optus Digital Thumbprint is a digital citizenship program that teaches young Australians to be safe, responsible and positive online, and provides information to support students to know how and where to seek help when it’s needed. Throughout our workshops, we ensure all students are aware that help and support is available at Kids Helpline 24/7, any time and for any reason, and  the Digital Thumbprint Program has been endorsed by the eSafety Commissioner as a Trusted eSafety Provider.  If you would like the free program in your child’s school, please head to our Digital Thumbprint bookings page. 

At Optus, we want to help create a more inclusive and optimistic future for all. Through our digital enablement strategy, we’re helping young people thrive in today’s world and have confident and positive interactions with each other and digital technology. Our goal is to provide every young child in need, access to digital education and access to free internet connectivity.  We are providing essential tools through programs like Digital Thumbprint.

Register for our workshops here:

https://www.digitalthumbprint.com.au/digital-workshops/

For more information about the National Child Protection Week, visit:

https://www.napcan.org.au/get-involved-2021

If you feel a young person in your life needs help and support, please let them know that Kids Helpline is there for them at any time. Find out more at https://kidshelpline.com.au/ or dial 1800 55 1800.