Children as young as four showed they were cyber savvy as Sutton Benger primary school marked the 10th anniversary of Safer Internet Day.

Responsible use of online technology is becoming ever more important for the younger generations as almost two thirds (62 per cent) of 12 to15-year-olds own a Smartphone with built-in camera, according to Ofcom. And more than two thirds (69 per cent) of these youngsters’ phones do not have parental filters.

Sutton Benger school dedicated a whole day to e-safety to make pupils aware of the dangers online.

Claire Lilly, safer internet lead at the NSPCC, said: “We are seeing a sharp rise in young people contacting ChildLine about being approached online, sending images to strangers or being exposed to online pornography.

“We cannot put the genie back in the bottle, but we can talk to young people and educate them on staying safe online just as we do about stranger danger or drugs.”

‘Be a safe internet explorer’, ‘Explore an online universe safely’ and ‘Stay SMART while enjoying the internet’ were the winning slogans of a competition run by Christina Harrison, Sutton Benger school’s ICT subject leader.

Charley, Louis and Morgan, aged eight, were delighted to have their winning slogans printed onto blue and green silicon wristbands and worn by every child in the school.

Other activities included safety stories, drama and designing mouse mats and screensavers teaching kids to stay SMART (Safe, Meeting, Accepting, Reliable, Telling) when on the internet.

Sam, 11, said: “Internet safety day was brilliant. We learnt new things like how the internet can have potential dangers, although if used well can be fun.”

A leaflet was also sent home to spread the message to parents. Bryony, 11, said: “It really helped because I now know that security is important. It has already benefited my family as I got them to check their password on a security checker we used in class.”

Year sevens from Hardenhuish School in Chippenham had already done a unit on internet safety and visited Sutton Benger to share their knowledge with the younger children. They were helped by two year tens who had ambitions to become teachers.

Becky Parry-Jones, an ICT teacher at Hardenhuish, said: “They shared the posters they had created and were showing them the impact of posting things on the web. It was about equipping them with knowledge so they could make their own judgement about what they want to put up there.”

Wiltshire College’s Creative Digital Media foundation degree students have been working with
primary children across Chippenham to create a computer game based around using the internet safely. The project, commissioned by the Chippenham Children’s Parliament, is expected to be completed by the summer and the game will be put on school websites.

According to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), part of the Serious and Organised Crime Agency, there were 1,145 public reports last year relating to incidents of online grooming. Seven per cent of these reports related to attempting to meet a child offline.

Children should avoid talking to strangers or accepting friend requests from people they do not know.

CEOP chief executive Peter Davies said: “What is apparent is that parents’ and carers’ can make that vital difference in whether or not a child becomes a victim of these ruthless predators online.”

Children whose internet activities are monitored and who have an open dialogue with parents about what they do and see online are better protected.

The centre is encouragingparents to download a new free CEOP app for Windows 8 users that has been developed with Microsoft.

This allows access to CEOP’s online safety advice pages, or to make a report about suspicious or inappropriate contact online. It is available from http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-gb/app/ceop/b9034b99-c621-4467-933c-592c656c9df1

JULIE ARMSTRONG