iiNet and Sutherland Dianella Primary School build online kit to teach kids cyber safety

PRIMARY school kids would go through a “mock exercise” where a predator uncovers their personal details in a new cyber safety course from iiNet.

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PRIMARY school kids would go through a “mock exercise” where a predator uncovers their personal information as part of a new cyber safety course designed by internet service provider iiNet.

iiNet chief executive David Buckingham said the WA-based billion-dollar company took matters into its own hands after research found online safety and cyber bullying were not “effectively” taught.

As part of the course, students are taught about financial scams such as emails from “Nigerian royals” and pop-up advertisements saying they had won the lottery.

And they will be told how the wrong post or image “could be there for life”.

One lesson will teach them how using an avatar instead of a real picture in profile photos can keep them safe.

Mr Buckingham, in charge of the ­second-biggest ISP in the country with about 900,000 customers, said it was “staggering” how little some parents knew.

“(Kids are) just unaware of what’s sitting behind everything,” Mr Buckingham, a father of three, told The Sunday Times. “We don’t want to scare them off, we want to help them feel comfortable online.”

The safety kit, designed with the help of Sutherland Dianella Primary School, covers eight lesson plans. It includes an online digital literacy questionnaire, digital identity rules and role-playing scenarios.

Mr Buckingham said getting the message about cyber safety to kids was personally important to him as a father.

“They would use the internet every minute of every day if I let them,” he said.

Sutherland Dianella PS teacher Emidio Boto, who helped develop the lessons to fit the new National Curriculum, said social networking sites and online games were key areas of danger.

An Education Department spokeswoman said it provided resources to help schools teach student about cyber safety.

The new kit can be found at iinet.net.au/cybersafety.

Originally published as iiNet and Sutherland Dianella Primary School build online kit to teach kids cyber safety