General News
4 December, 2021
Cairns’ students and parents learn how to stay safe online
OVER 650 students from Woree State High School and Kuranda District State College participated in the OPTUS’ Digital Thumbprint Program on November 25 and 26, providing them with tools to be safe online.
The OPTUS’ Digital Thumbprint Program is free. Its tour through Cairns and Townsville reached around 2,000 students and their parents with skills and tools for cybersecurity, digital identity, cyberbullying, and more.
OPTUS’ Territory General Manager, Central and North Queensland, Dave Morrissey, said the program wants to make sure to point youngsters in the right direction from an early age.
“We understand how powerful technology is, and we also understand there’s a responsibility to all technology users to make sure that they use it appropriately from an early age,” Mr Morrissey said.
“I think having access to resources and understanding what is available is a massive part of this, and as technology evolves, so does the type of approach we need to take for cyber safety and cyber security.
“We’ve got around 1,300 students in the Townsville region who will take advantage of this program, we’ve got another 700 up in Cairns, but I think it extends beyond that. While they learn about it in the classroom, there’s also who they talk to about it, so the impact is limitless, and it’s the little pieces of information they take with them that make the difference,” he said.
The year 4/5 class at the Kuranda District College had an immersive lesson on cyber security with Mark Stanley, the Digital Thumbprint Facilitator. They discussed their social media and online gaming use, protecting their personal information and what makes a strong password. Mr Stanley got the kids playing a social media detective game to show them how easy we give away our information online and testing how strong their day-to-day passwords were.
11-year-old Isaiah Thomson said that what he remembers the most from the lesson is how to protect his password. “It’s important to learn about this so that you’re not stuck in a dangerous situation,” he said.
Mr Stanley thinks programs like this are necessary because our reliance on technology and social media is inevitable and will keep increasing, so we should do our best to keep children safe online.
“I have met many parents who don’t want to be on social media, and that’s ok; you don’t need to be on it, but you do need to know about it,” Mr Stanley said.
“We have cemented our online use in the last couple of years, and there is no turning back; that’s why we need to take control and teach our kids how to stay safe online and how to be good cyber citizens.”
