The last few years have demonstrated how important the internet is to modern-day life. Across the world, it became our main workplaces, social spaces, and classrooms. With students spending more time at home and online, it meant more exposure to online dangers, highlighting the critical role families must play in student cyber safety.

Read on to learn more and to download our school's guide for engaging parents in cyber safety.

The impact COVID had on student cyber safety 

We can all agree that COVID tested our ability to respond to the unknown. Pandemic aside, our community also faced major social justice movements and history-making events. Amongst the chaos, the internet, as always, proved to be the primary source of information, learning, and speculation. The internet was also a vital bloodline for education around the world, with schools turning to remote learning. Teaching as we knew it flipped on its head. And in many ways, so was parenting. 

With students at home for schooling, parents found themselves having to play a much more active role in their education. Never before has the burden of responsibility between schools and parents been shared in this way. We heard from exasperated parents, often juggling working from home with supervising their children, about the difficulties of keeping children focussed at home. There was plenty of press covering this issue, not to mention humorous videos too. The big problem was that while students were at home, they had unfettered access to online harms and digital distractions, literally at their fingertips the entire day. Parents were tasked with ensuring children willingly educated themselves in a safe way using the same device they use for gaming, social media, watching Netflix and much, much more. Not surprisingly, this proved to be a massive challenge for parents.

The situation highlighted the importance for parents and carers to be informed and engaged in cyber safety and empowered to play their role in ensuring kids are safe online.

How to engage your parent community

We've compiled six tips to help your school create and nurture strong, collaborative partnerships with families when it comes to cyber safety. By implementing these strategies, your school will be taking a leadership position around cyber safety and creating safer online environments for your students.

You can download the guide above and feel free to share it with your colleagues.

Discover how Linewize solves your school's cyber challenges through a free consultation with one of our education experts - Book a consultation here.