To mark Safer Internet Day, Kirklees Council are offering free training to help parents and carers keep children safe online.
Safer Internet Day is a global event on Tuesday February 8. It’s aimed at promoting the safe and positive use of digital technology for children and young people and celebrating their role in creating a safer internet.
As well as Kirklees Council’s usual range of free digital training, they are offering three additional free workshops for parents and carers to support them with online safety.
The online workshops will run on February 8 and 9 and will cover the following:
Workshop 1: Parental Controls
This will be an explanation of parental controls and how to put them in place, as well as an exploration of further options like filtering software. By the end of the session, attendees will also know how to report inappropriate content or contacts.
Tuesday February 8 1pm-2pm
Workshop 2: Apps and Security Settings
This will be a look at using extra technology to help keep children safe – for example location sharing apps.
Tuesday February 8 2.05pm-3.05pm
Workshop 3: Staying Safe Online for Adults
This will help adults understand more about staying safe online themselves. It will cover phishing, how to keep details safe, staying secure across multiple devices, and how to check technology for vulnerabilities.
Wednesday February 9 11am-12noon
These workshops are in addition to the range of free digital support already offered by the council at their Digital Hubs across Kirklees, including provisions for better digital access and more general digital upskilling. Kirklees Council also offers support to help more digitally capable members of the community upskill others.
All these services aim to reduce digital exclusion in Kirklees residents, thereby improving health, wellbeing and overall quality of life.
Anyone wishing to register interest and get a link can sign up via their MyKirklees account. They should select ‘Other’ from the dropdown menu and select their preferred workshop – it is possible to register for all three.
Clr Peter McBride, Cabinet member for regeneration, said: “Digital technology can open all kinds of doors for children and young people, offering a boundless new world of technology and creativity.
“But it can also present dangers, and sometimes this can be hard to monitor – especially if you’re not incredibly tech savvy yourself, or just don’t know what to watch out for. Where this is the case, we want to help.
“Parents and carers should have all the best tools at their disposal to help keep their children safe, and this extends to the digital world too. That’s why this training and support is completely free, and easy to access across Kirklees.”
