25.09.2015
Social Media Safety Highlighted at Second Level Schools Service
Students of Church of Ireland and Protestant second level schools from all over the State filled St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin yesterday for the second annual service to mark the beginning of the academic year. The service was organised by the General Synod Board of Education (RI) and the Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd Dr Michael Jackson, presided.
The Service of Choral Evensong was attended by the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys. Beforehand, she visited the nearby Marsh’s Library where staff showed her around the historic building and she had an opportunity to view several of the library’s books including one containing ancient maps of her own Cavan–Monaghan constituency.
The address was given by John Mills of Barnardos who spoke to the students about childhood poverty and the importance of staying safe on social media. He pointed out that there was a link between Thomas Barnardo and St Patrick’s Cathedral as Barnardo had attended St Patrick’s Grammar School before going to London to study and later establish Bernardos.
Mr Mills said that the most people associated Barnardos with children living in poverty. There are 138,000 children existing in poverty in Ireland today, he said. Barnardos offer a range of services to make a difference in these children’s lives including breakfast clubs, homework clubs and counselling and bereavement services.
But he said Barnardos also visits secondary schools throughout the country to give talks and workshops. Mr Mills said that while social media can be fun it can also create challenges for both adults and young people. He said that people can be bullied on social media because people say things online that the might not otherwise say.
He encouraged the students to practice four things to keep themselves safer online:
1. Be aware of privacy settings.
2. Always log out.
3. Use good strong passwords.
4. Only add people to accounts when you know them.
Cyber bullying happens more and more and people need to respect the technology they use, the speaker said. He advised students to take three steps if anything happens online or they receive a message that upsets or frightens them:
1. Do not reply. Take a screenshot but do not respond.
2. Block the person.
3. Tell someone.
Mr Mills encouraged schools to invite Barnardos in to give workshops to their students and said all support for the charity was very much appreciated.
Photo captions:
Top – Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys, with students from Protestant Second Level Schools from around Ireland in St Patrick’s Cathedral.
Middle – Minister Heather Humphreys examines a book of ancient maps, including one of her own constituency, in Marsh’s Library.
Bottom – Archbishop Michael Jackson, Minister Heather Humphreys, John Mills of Barnardos and Dean Victor Stacey following the Second Level Schools Service in St Patrick’s Cathedral.