Safer internet Day, 7th February 2006
The chances are your students are already using the internet to help with their school work, to keep in touch with their friends, or maybe they are simply surfing the web for fun. While there are some great eduactional and social benefits from the Internet, there are also some risks.
There are some important issues that pupils need to be aware of. Some young people put themselves at risk by posting personal information, such as phone numbers and photos. There are also important ethical considerations regarding how pupils behave towards each other. Some cases of bullying involve posting hurtful information or pictures online, which can be especially distressing. There are also some issues around respecting copyright that are particularly relevant to students who use online resources for projects and homework.
You and your class are invited to take part in a Safer Internet Day on 7th February by using one of the activities prepared by webwise, the internet safety initiative of the National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE).
Safer Internet Day Activities for Primary Schools: Webwise has developed an engaging animated-lesson for 7-12 year olds, complete with interactive questions and related classroom activities. 
You are encouraged to introduce your class to Niamh and Fionn as they learn how on the internet not everything is what it seems. As they watch our colourful characters get introduced to the Internet by their ‘webwise’ cousin, they will learn how to search safely, what to do if they come across anything nasty, and how to know what information they can trust. Your children can even get certified as being officially webwise by taking an online quiz at the end of the lesson.
Click on the image above to launch the online lesson...
Internet Safety Day Activity for Secondary Schools: Increasingly students are going online to get information to help them with their homework and with school projects. It is important that they are aware of how they can use this information and that they respect the copyright of the author or artist who created it. Webwise and Scoilnet are facilitating a debate that will help you to raise awareness of copyright issues amongst your students. You can follow the “Is the Internet bad for music?” activity sheet to conduct a classroom discussion/debate. Then you can post your conclusions to the online debate in Scoilnet where it will be available alongside the comments of musicians such as Mundy. On Safer Internet Day we will post all the comments to the “Worldwide Blogathon” where students from around the world will join in the discussion.
Click here to launch the online debate...