✔ For students in years 7-11
The sponsor for Safety and Security is Channel 4.
You might decide to look at personal safety, protection of possessions, or online security and safety. This is a wide-ranging category.
Looking at the physical world first …
- How could technology improve the safety of people? For example, whilst enjoying a day at the beach or at the local swimming pool?
- Are there better ways to protect your possessions at home or on the move?
- What innovation could keep you out of danger? How could technology keep you safe?
- Smoke alarms save many thousands of lives but are there other ways to alert people to danger?
And then the online world
- The internet has facilitated a powerful network for social communication but what can we do to make sure people communicate safely online? Who needs support most?
- Do people REALLY understand wi-fi hot spots and how to recognise the safe ones? Click here for some tips from Wired.
- Could you come up with a way to help people protect their private information online and stop people falling for phishing attacks?
Issues around the Internet
- Cyber Bullying
- Who can see your data?
- Safety on social networks
- Visibility around Pictures/locations
- Passwords
- False identity
- Hackers
Best Preparation starts with substantial research. Researching the issues around safety and security will be useful in backing up your ideas and allow you to discover the dangers yourself.
Useful Links and Resources:
https://tacticaltech.org/projects/data-detox-kit/ – The Data Detox Kit is a simple, accessible toolkit that walks you through the steps you can take towards a more in-control online self.
https://ssd.eff.org/module/privacy-students – Privacy for Students.
https://secfirst.org/umbrella/ – Umbrella is the only security handbook you’ll ever need in a free, open source app. It’s up-to-date information you can trust. And it’s always in your pocket.
https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/bullying-abuse-safety/online-mobile-safety/ – Having a mobile phone and going online is great for lots of reasons. But it’s important to be aware of the dangers too. Learn how to stay safe online.
https://www.edx.org/search?tab=course – Free tech courses with IBM.
https://www.canva.com/en_gb/ – For designing presentations, Canva is great.
https://www.getsafeonline.org/ – Various ways in which pupils can begin to think about safety.
Here are some suggestions and guidelines of what students could think about:
Who uses technology to access the internet? Look at the different age demographics: Retired, young adults, businesses, schools, hospitals, government. What technology do they use to access social networks?
People communicate in different ways: Email, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat, Skype, FaceTime, TikTok, iMessage, etc. Which social networks or communication platforms constitute the biggest risk?
Preparation for the project:
Whether they choose physical or virtual safety, students may wish to do an awareness campaign in conjunction with their idea and plan how they would run it. Think about the medium : posters, TV campaign, YouTube video etc. They need to research the issue both from stories they may have seen in the media and also make good use of had first hand experiences or those of people in their own lives. They should learn about the risks and decide on key messages.