On Tuesday 10^th February, schools around the country celebrated Safer

Internet Day (SID) for the twelfth year running.

At St Thomas’s Catholic Primary school in Canterbury, members of the ‘eSafety Crew’ conducted a special survey of the online behaviour of all pupils in the school and made some surprising discoveries. The outcomes were delivered in the schools special eSafety assembly.

Key questions that were asked included, ‘How often do you use the internet?’ and ‘Do you need to ask anyone’s permission to go on the internet?’ Almost half of the children were found to use the internet every day and (surprisingly) more than half did not have to ask for permission to use the internet at home. Most children said that they stayed online for between one and two hours per day, although a minority admitted to much longer periods of up to 3-4 hours each day.

A key findings of the survey was that most primary aged children did not use social networking sites, such as Facebook. The vast majority prefer online gaming and YouTube in particular. Pupils have become more familiar with ‘Vlogs’ (or ‘video blogs’) and ‘Vines (comic short videos that have gone viral). They love computer gaming – but do not always understand the PEGI age ratings.

Mr Blomfield, Assistant Headteacher at St Thomas’s said, “We are really proud of our eSafety Crew. They are helping to spread the message about safer use of the internet around the school and into homes. This is a vital part of our new computing curriculum in school.”

The assembly homed in on advising children to go online with their families, in shared rooms rather than bedrooms. The eSafety crew also encouraged pupils to help teach their parents more about PEGI ratings and how to keep all of the family safe online.​