Online safety session planned for island's parents

Brent Homan said parents need to "model good digital behaviour" to children

A workshop to help parents in Guernsey understand how to keep their children safe online is expected to be rolled out in the coming months, the island's data protection commissioner has said.

Brent Homan, from the the Office of the Data Protection Authority (ODPA), said the free events would help parents understand the role they can play in creating a "positive and safe online experience for their kids".

Mr Homan said communication with children was "king", adding "as parents, we need to model good digital behaviour", including limiting parents' own phone use at home.

The workshops will be suitable for parents of children including teenagers and pre-teens, he said.

Blanchelande College will be one of the first schools to offer the interactive workshop to parents.

The ODPA is keen to hear from other schools and organisations.

Parents can expect to learn about controls available on social media platforms as well as teaching their children how to "limit the sharing of personal information", Mr Homan said.

"Protecting our children is a dynamic responsibility and new games platforms are a risk, they pop up all the time.

"Think about it - TikTok didn't even exist 10 years ago, and I doubt many parents had even heard of Roblox until recently.

"Importantly, what we're going to do is give platform-specific advice that parents can implement today, not just high-level warnings."

The workshops have been developed in partnership with a digital expert from Bermuda, who visited Guernsey and Sark earlier this year.