Education_Layout 1 03/03/2017 10:30 Page 1
Staying safe in cyberspace In a sign of the times, Michael Connolly, Headmaster of Cranmore School, poses a pertinent question: “Is social media toxic?”
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At Cranmore School we provide e-safety training for pupils from the age of four: it is never too young to teach them how to be responsible and safe with technology.
56 essence-magazine.co.uk | MARCH 2017
he history of technology clearly indicates that when a new device or phenomenon appears it is a one-way process, we cannot turn the clock back. This is just as true for the mobile phone as an atomic bomb. The challenge, of course, is that we are always compelled to adapt and learn to live with any new technology, whatever rationale is presented for its merits. When mobile phones first appeared they were horrendously expensive, unreliable and cumbersome but, nevertheless, they served as a status symbol in some quarters. Many of us will recall Del Boy from Only Fools and Horses using his phone, which was the size of a brick, to secure the latest dodgy deal. In time, like most gadgets, mobile phones became smaller, more reliable and, crucially, more affordable to become attainable for almost everyone. The key selling point of the mobile phone is the convenience of being able to communicate regularly or simply stay in touch with friends and family from any location, day or night. Is this really a good thing? Is it really necessary? How many of us have been plagued by a noisy train carriage from Waterloo to Guildford?
Perhaps there was a golden age when commuters would tackle The Times’ crossword, or perhaps just flick through the Evening Standard, all in relative silence. Now we have the incessant chatter as fellow passengers compete with each other as they hold lengthy, banal conversations by mobile phone as a means of breaking the ‘boredom’ of a regular commute. Whilst this can be irritating, the more sinister aspect is that many employers expect their workforce to be at the end of a phone 24-7 and to respond to e-mails too. It has been well reported that this trend has had a significant effect in increasing stress levels to the detriment of an individual’s wellbeing and productivity. We have supposedly progressed from phones being used for conversations and texts to being, in effect, mini-computers. This has added to the expectation and pressure so that some people cannot switch off from work. However, this is not all. In recent years there has been a rapid development in social media so that Facebook has new cousins such as Instagram and WhatsApp.