Five in Five: Alan Mackenzie’s top 5 tips for teaching online safety to students

We’re now several episodes into NetSupport Radio’s Five in Five series, where education experts give us a quick insight into their specialist area by sharing five quick tips – all in five minutes (or thereabouts).

The latest episode sees Al Kingsley speaking to eSafety Adviser, Alan Mackenzie.  Alan chats to Al about his five top tips for teaching online safety to students:

1. Concentrate on the positives (to prevent students switching off) but introduce some negatives. 
2. Be careful with rules-based education such as “Don’t talk to strangers” or “Don’t share personal information” etc. These types of statements are unrealistic and lack any context.
3. Keep it real: if you want positive impact, talk about the spaces they are in and the games/apps they are using.
4. Never victim blame: Using examples of a serious incident and then asking questions such as “What did he/she do wrong?” comes across as judgemental.
5. Keep it engaging: By talking about the things they are using, students will open up and ask questions on things that may be affecting them.