Free safety event for parents

East Perthshire residents are reminded that a free online safety seminar for parents is taking place in the Playhouse Cinema in Perth on Thursday this week.

‘Getting It Right...Keeping Your Child Safe’is an annual event organised by Perth and Kinross Council and partner agencies, including Police Scotland.

It aims to raise awareness of the current challenges in keeping children and young people safe online, and is open to parents and carers, professionals in social work, education and childcare, as well as members of the public more generally.

This year the seminar will include keynote presentations covering four topics:

• Online gaming - a parent’s personal experience, discussion of the risks, with advice on how to protect children and young people.

• Cybercrime – what are the risks to children and young people and what can be done to protect them?

• Online pornography – how does accessing online pornography impact upon the brain of a young person?

• Popular apps and trends - what do parents and professionals need to know?

Attendees will hear from key speakers Detective Inspector Eamonn Keane of Police Scotland’s Cybercrime Unit; Lorin LaFave of the Breck Foundation; ethical hacking consultant Gerry Grant; Anne Darling of The Reward Foundation; and Michael Conlon, the council’s Digital Learning and Technology Officer.

The seminars have been very popular and well-attended each year since they began in 2012, with hundreds of people coming to the previous four annual events.

Sessions are available from 9.30am to 11.30am, 1pm to 3pm and 5.30pm to 7.30pm. Places are limited. To check availability and to book, please email jwatt@pkc.gov.uk with your name, contact details and preferred session.

For further information, please call Catriona Laing on 01738 477861.