You will all be aware Tuesday 5th February was Safer Internet Use Day.
As part of the promotion of this event the College wish to remind you of the importance of maintaining professional boundaries with students and others in relation to online activity.
We all have rights and responsibilities in relation to cyber-bullying and should work positively together to create an environment in which you can learn and develop whilst having fulfilling careers free from harassment and bullying.
You are encouraged to familiarise yourselves with the privacy and security settings of the social media and apps that you use and to ensure they are kept up to date.
Here are a few tips for safe practice:
- Be aware that your reputation could be harmed by what others share about you online, such as friends tagging you in inappropriate posts, photographs, or videos.
- Consider your own conduct online. Certain behaviour could breach your contract of employment or your professional body regulations and lead to disciplinary action.
- Only discuss certain issues with your close family, friends and colleagues, as you could become a target if you do not have appropriate security and privacy settings in place.
- Be aware that your social media friends may also be friends with other students and their family members and therefore they could read your posts if you do not have appropriate privacy settings.
- Use your College email address for college business and your personal email address for your private life; do not mix the two.
If you are ever bullied online please:
- Never respond or retaliate to any cyber-bullying incidents. You should report incidents appropriately and seek support from your line manager or a member of College staff.
- Save evidence of the abuse; take screen prints of messages or web pages and record the time and date.
- Where the perpetrator is known to be a current student or colleague, the majority of cases will be dealt with through their online policies and procedures.
- The matter may involve reporting the matter to the relevant social networking site if it breaches their terms, seeking guidance from the local authority, legal advisers and involving law enforcement agencies.
- If the comments are threatening or abusive, sexist, of a sexual nature or are likely to constitute a hate crime, then you or the College may contact the police. Online harassment is a crime and will be treated as such.
The college is not anti the use of online services, or social media by anyone as it has its place when used appropriately but we are concerned about protecting the safety and well-being of all of our stakeholders.