Skype for Kids

When you have been using a technology for so long you sometimes forget the basics. I've been using Skype since 2003 when my sister moved overseas for two years. What a difference it can make when you miss someone so much or when you are homesick to be able to make a call, see a familiar face to realise nothing has changed and you're really not missing out on much at all!

Like any social network, Skype has its benefits but it also has dangers if used inappropriately.  In particular the ’chat’ feature can be used to ‘groom’ or cyberbully and the ‘video’ feature can be used to post explicit and/or illegal images. It is a tool often used by Paedophiles to make contact with children and use it to take photos and make arrangements to meet children face-to-face. 

  
Last week however I was reminded that for many of our students Skype is fairly new to them and one of it's downsides is the ability for strangers to randomly contact people online and try and engage in conversation. 

However you can control who contacts you on Skype by changing your privacy settings. 

The Skype website advises:
"you can choose to only allow those in your contact list to contact you, and you can block and report any nuisance contacts. To only allow people in your contact list to call you or send you instant messages:

1. Sign in to Skype.
2. In the menu bar, click Skype > Preferences... and then click Privacy.
3. In the section Allow calls from, select Contacts.
4. In the section Allow messages from, select Contacts.

To block and report a nuisance contact:

1. In the sidebar, right-click the person you wish to block and select Block [name of contact]… A message box displays prompting ‘Are you sure you want to block [name]?’

2. Tick Report abuse from this person to help Skype block abusers and spammers in the early phase of their activities.

3. Click Block.

https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA10883/what-can-i-do-if-i-receive-spam-messages-or-abusive-calls-in-skype-for-mac-os-x  accessed 22/04/2013

Skype is yet another app (along with Instagram, SnapChat & Facebook)  that all parents should be using so they can see how it works and support their children in setting it up correctly, with safety and privacy settings tightly controlled and regularly checked. Our younger students need to be told that it's perfectly ok that when approached by a stranger online they don't have to engage in conversation. They don't have to ask, "Do I know you?", but should be blocking immediately instead. There have been three cases, that I am aware of, from Melbourne in recent months where girls as young as year five and six have been drawn into situations where they have agreed to remove clothing on camera. One group of girls at a sleepover did so after they were told by the person that he was Justin Bieber. Whilst at school we provide cybersafety education for students but it's important  that they are also supported at home, as this is when they have unsupervised access to the technology.

Please visit the Skype website for further information www.skype.com