John Parsons is an Internet Safety and Risk Assessment Consultant to schools the private sector and the health sector, providing specialist advice and direction on the safe use of Digital Communication Technology.
Presentations and Community Workshops
He delivers cyber safety workshops to those who work with young people in areas of health, education and safety. John also delivers parent/caregiver cyber safety workshops through school or community based initiatives.
Working with children and Families
He works with individuals, young people and families who have become ensnared by predatory adults across digital networks, those who have been cyber abused and children and youth who abuse others using online technologies.
Teaching
John teaches in class to Primary, Intermediate and College age students
John works with New Zealand Police, Child Youth and Family, Safeguarding Children Initiative (SCI New Zealand), Government sector agencies, Barnardos,
New Zealand Schools and Private sector organizations
The rights of children
He promotes the rights of children to be judged fairly recognising their rights to use communication technology safely and with respect for themselves and others. This is the foundation upon which he delivers his classroom workshops to students of all ages, as summarised below:
Resilient children and youth understand what is theirs by right:
• To be respected • To be valued • To be supported • To be heard • To be protected • To learn
In my workshops with children and teenagers we debate the power of support and the role empathy has in influencing positive behaviours. Information technology connects us with the world and at the same times separates us from others. Now, more than ever before, empathy, the ability to think about how another person is feeling, should be the foundation upon which we educate children on matters of judgement whether in the home, in the school or in the community.
Empathy is a gift children share between themselves every day, so when we see it we should acknowledge it, and when possible, reward it....John Parsons