Being safe online: exploring the perceived importance and ease of undertaking tasks associated with managing online safety
Catherine Beavis, Sandy Muspratt, Roberta Thompson, Donna Pendergast · 2013
Significant efforts worldwide have gone into developing cybersafety education for young people. In many countries, key government bodies, community organisations, charity groups and school sectors have engaged in program and curriculum development with the aim of improving students’ cybersafety awareness and digital literacy. In Australia, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) delivers cybersafety programs, presentations and resources to teachers, librarians, children, parents, carers and other community members through its Cybersmart branding, including the Cybersmart Outreach Program. Drawing on data from the 2011 evaluation of the effectiveness of the ACMA Cybersmart Outreach Program in schools, this paper discusses distinctions between what junior secondary students rated as ‘easy’ and what is ‘important’ in relation to managing online safety, and proposes that closer attention to this distinction might present useful guidance for this age group in the development of future education programs.