There’s a lot parents don’t know

NSW Police Liaison Officer Senior Constable Marty Paice presented a cyber safety seminar to parents and carers at the Cobar Bowling & Golf Club on Thursday night and also more seminars to students and teachers at the primary and high schools.

A quick ‘true or false’ quiz about technology offered to parents and carers at a cyber safety seminar in Cobar last week revealed that there’s plenty to learn about keeping our kids safe in the cyber world.

NSW Police Liaison Officer Senior Constable Marty Paice, who presented to the Think U Know seminar at the Cobar Bowling & Golf Club last Thursday, said the quiz throws up a lot of interesting information.

He said children are becoming tech savvy from a very young age with “children as young as two having a digital shadow”.

“There’s a technology gap between parents and kids,” Senior Constable Paice said.

He said many parents didn’t understand that giving their children “unbridled access” to the internet could be likened to “taking your kids to Kings Cross and leaving them there”.

He said many parents are very good at talking to their kids about stranger danger and yet it’s common for them let their kids talk to complete strangers in online games.

Senior Constable Paice also spoke about privacy, sharing information, online grooming and cyberbullying and where to find information and help. He plans to conduct further cyber safety seminars in Cobar.