How can I help my students to protect their privacy and safety on the internet and their mobile?
As emailing, texting, social networking and blogging become increasingly ingrained in your students' lives, they need to be made aware of the potential risks to their privacy and safety.
Many young people don't consider their "digital footprint” and the fact that anyone - from other young people to university admissions tutors; their parents to complete strangers - could see material they have posted on public websites, for example.
They might not understand that something they publish online could be misinterpreted, upset someone, or attract unwanted attention.
And it's not just a case of your students keeping their passwords safe and not talking to strangers online any more; the emergence of new technologies like social networking and video-sharing in recent years has made it much more complicated.
Did you know?
Almost half of European recruiters look for information about potential candidates on social networking sites and almost a quarter have rejected candidates on the basis of their research (Source: Microsoft survey for EU Data Protection Day, January 2010)
Helping your students to protect their personal information, online identity and reputation is key to encouraging responsible use of new technologies and improving their digital literacy skills.
Becta and other organisations therefore recommend that e-safety is taught in every school - as part of Citizenship, PSHE or ICT classes, integrated within other subject areas, or addressed in whole-school forums. And, from September 2011, online safety will be a compulsory part of the curriculum from age 5.
You also play a key role in ensuring that parents are engaged in e-safety. It's likely that your students use new technologies at home even more than at school so the message about positive, responsible and safe use needs to be consistent.
In this section, we look at some of the main areas you might have concerns about, including mobiles, social networking and gaming.