Coolest Projects 2018 - Parents Panel
Coolest Projects 2018 - Parents Panel
On Saturday the 26th of May, I had the privilege of taking part in a Parents Panel discussion during Coolest Projects 2018. The topic was “Bringing Young People on the path to being a good a good digital citizen” which is something close to my heart as I’m a parent myself and also a Champion for CoderDojo Banbridge. In the past I have also visited primary school classes to give talks on the subject of Online Safety as well.
What is Coolest Projects?
Coolest Projects is a series of annual events ran by regional CoderDojo organisations across the world. The largest (to date) event is the International Coolest Projects which has been hosted from the RDS in Dublin for a number of years now.
It is an event that is open to all kids (aged 7 to 17) who attend either CoderDojo, CodeClub or Raspberry Jam. It has a competitive element but is really a place for kids to both showcase their own skills but to also be inspired by their peers.
As well as the great projects from the kids, there are also a tonne of awesome sessions being hosted by both the sponsors of the event as well as a number of education charities and a number of inspiring talks aimed at both parents and the ninjas in attendance.
The Panel
The discussion was being hosted by Elaine Burke, managing editor of Silicon Republic. In the hot seats were Alex Cooney, CEO of CyberSafe Ireland, Chris Flack, Founder of UnPlug, and Brendan Gormley, representing OWASP. Oh, and myself of course, representing parents everywhere as well as CoderDojo Banbridge.
This was my first (and last?) discussion panel and in the build up I was equally nervous and excited about the event. In the end it went pretty well, but that was almost a given in that all panelists were in broad agreement, with each calling out specific aspects that would have been of particular interest to each given their background.
How to Become Informed Parents?
If I were to summarise the main core of my advice from the panel, it would be that parents need to take the time to become as informed as they can be. Most kids are getting some form of exposure to concepts of online safety and being a good digital citizen through their schools or youth groups. Parents in the main aren’t but the good news is that there are loads of fantastic sites out there that are really accessible and do a great job of providing information in easily consumable chunks.
| Site/s | Details |
|---|---|
| CyberSafe Ireland | Contains some great material for parents, including their comprehensive Parental Control advice as well as more topical blogs and articles. |
| nspcc, childline, internetmatters.org | A lot of material here that is geared for both parents and kids, great as an introduction to a lot of topics related to online safety as well as online behaviour. |
| parentzone.org.uk, webwise.ie | Topical sites so great to check these often to keep up to date with latest news. |
| commonsensemedia.org | Really comprehensive guides to loads of topics, but in particular it’s guides to Apps and Games makes this an essential resource. |
| beinternetlegends | This is an amazing resource that google have pulled together. Their Interland game is something that children and parents can and should play together, but the entire beinternetlegends program is geared for schools and contains all the information that teachers need to deliver a course on online safety. I beleive that each teacher can request and will be sent a physical copy of the resources so they can get up and running in no time!. |
I’ve locked down everything, so that’s it right?
If only it was that simple. Your kids are super inquisitive. That’s what makes it such a joy to mentor them in a dojo, but sometimes that curiosity can potentially lead them into areas where we never expect them to reach. No matter how locked down your system is, kids will get access to the wild west of the interweb. Whether it’s at a friend or relative’s house, or an older sibling (or you) leaves a laptop or PC unlocked, kids will step beyond your sandbox.
This is why it’s vital to keep a dialogue open with your kids. You need to ensure they are robust enough and resiliant enough so that if they do find themselves in a situation that they feel uncomfortable in, that they can identify the risks and minimize the potential danger they are exposed to. That dialogue needs to involve them feeling comfortable enough to come and talk to you about these situations so you can help where you can.
Spend time with your kids when they are online, using their tablets or playing on their consoles. See what apps they are using and do your research. Praise their positive online behaviour and call out any phishing attempts on unwanted friends requests that you yourself receive so that they can see why you reject or spot anything dodgy.