SECONDARY schools in York have teamed up with a national charity to teach students about the dangers of the internet and how to stay safe online.

All City of York schools are working in partnership with the Breck Foundation to run assemblies with Year 9 students in each of the secondary schools in York this week.

Students are receiving presentations from a woman who runs the charity and whose son was tragically murdered by an adult who had groomed him through contact on gaming sites.

Dan Bodey, deputy head at Fulford School, said: “In recent City of York surveys it has been clear that students are becoming more careful and aware regarding safe use of the internet. A greater proportion of students report securing their social media sites and restricting their electronic contact to people they also know offline in ‘real life’.

“An exception to this is students use of online gaming where they are much more willing to interact with people they do not know, both in a gaming and conversational basis.

“This increases the risk of grooming as no party involved in such contact knows the age or identity of other players. Conversations can lead to the exchanging of personal information and contact beyond the game, even meeting up.”

He says it is important to make students more aware about how to interact in this context safely, and to inform them of the risks that can exist in these situations.

In addition to the student assemblies, sessions were held for parents at York’s Millthorpe School on Monday and at the Vale of York Academy on Tuesday so they could learn about how to keep their children safe online.To support the Breck Foundation’s work, a city-wide ‘No Tech for Breck’ day will take place in the coming days where pupils, teachers and parents are asked to use no social technology for the day including mobiles and tablets. Some schools are also choosing to do a non-uniform day to support the work of the charity.’