Circular 1/2003

Dear Colleague,

Child Safety on the Internet

This Circular reminds authorities of their ongoing responsibility to issue clear guidance and policy statements on the safe use of the internet and electronic communications both at the local authority and at school level. It introduces a single website, www.ltscotland.org.uk/doubleclickthinking, which provides advice and links to a number of national and international resources regarding child safety on the internet. A copy of the current content of that site is included as Appendix 4 to the paper version of this Circular, but the site will also be updated from time to time to ensure it provides up-to-date advice.

Further background information is given in Appendix 1 to this Circular. Local authorities should now review their practice in the light of this guidance and should ensure that the standard policy statements or other advice is issued to all schools.

This new online publication is designed to support authorities in fulfilling their responsibilities to manage risks associated with internet access and other electronic communications within schools and education authorities. To achieve this, a number of sample documents are included, as is the facility to refer to local authority policy documents either by including a hyperlink, or by referring to local Council policy (e.g. a standard circular). Further information regarding this facility is given in Appendix 2 to this Circular. Local authorities are asked to make use of this facility to ensure that their staff can access local policy directly from the national advice.

The name of the Educational ICT contact we hold for each education authority is included in Appendix 3 to the paper version of this Circular only. If you wish this person to be the contact for internet safety issues, for example by being informed of updates to the site, no action is required. If you wish to nominate another member of staff to be the contact and receive any information about updates, please e-mail DoubleClickThinking@LTScotland.org.uk.

Yours sincerely

Malcolm Payton

Appendix 1: Background

In 1999 SOEID published a booklet titled ClickThinking: Personal Safety on the Internet. That booklet was published in recognition of the potential risks associated with access to the internet.

Since then the use of the internet has increased greatly. That trend will continue with the Scottish Government's Scottish Schools Digital Network (SSDN) initiative, which will complement the eventual roll-out of high-quality broadband connections across Scotland's schools.

SSDN will create a national intranet for the education community, including features that will enhance internet safety. It will encourage online communication among schools and other participants in the education community and will be a catalyst for growing use of all aspects of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in schools. This increased use of ICT will bring significant benefits to teaching and learning.

The Government is enthusiastic about the potential benefits these developments will bring, but is also aware of continued public concern over possible risks to our children associated with internet usage. SSDN will therefore operate within a secure, managed environment, with built-in safeguards for all users. As part of this provision, there will remain a ongoing local requirement to manage services and the policies surrounding these.

Many of the issues are the same as those considered in the original ClickThinking guidelines, and many of the approaches to addressing these are similar. Nevertheless, there have been a number of developments in application packages, modes of communication, speed of access and availability of access that have changed the nature and significance of the internet and other communications technologies. The original guidance has now been updated to address these developments.

As well as providing this new guidance, this circular reminds local authorities of their responsibility to manage provision at a local level. This is not a new development. The guidance in the original ClickThinking publication included a number of references to the need for local authorities to provide policy support for schools, for example, 'The education authority should have clear policy guidelines regarding personal safety on the internet for all those in its employ and within its schools.' It is hoped that the links and examples available on the website will make provision of suitable advice to schools a relatively straightforward matter.

As indicated above, recent developments have led to new facilities and ways to access materials in a variety of formats. They have also led to the development of new resources, including a variety of resources that address issues of internet safety. Rather than develop a completely new package, this Circular therefore introduces a single website which links to a number of national and international resources regarding child safety on the internet.

More general advice regarding safe use of the internet addressed to a wider audience is available at www.besafeonline.org and at www.thinkuknow.co.uk.

Appendix 2: Links to local policies

As indicated in the covering Circular (01/2003), this publication is designed to support authorities in fulfilling their responsibilities to manage risks associated with internet access and other electronic communications within schools and education authorities.

Many authorities have already considered this matter in some depth, and offered advice to their schools. The Scottish Government is grateful for the willingness of local authorities to share their work and for their co-operation in the preparation of this national advice.

To take advantage of the advice available, the website includes the facility to link to advice issued by each local authority. Each authority may therefore include within the national website a reference to their own advice. This can be achieved in a number of ways, for example by a direct hyperlink to local authority advice or by reference to a local authority policy document.

Fictional examples of the kind of links envisaged are given below.

There is no requirement that any of the documents are in the public domain, as the electronic link or reference can easily relate to an internal document.

Sample pages are included that an authority may choose to endorse for use locally. It must be emphasised, however, using the examples provided does not preclude the need to consider the underlying issues and take ownership of the policies through personal development, staff discussion and local advice.

Authorities may update these links at any time by sending details of the amendments to DoubleClickThinking@LTScotland.org.uk.

I hope that you find this approach helpful. I would welcome your comments on this facility and whether you would find it helpful to adopt a similar approach for other initiatives.

E-mail comments to DoubleClickThinking@LTScotland.org.uk

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