Primary Digital Leaders give their thoughts on Safer Internet Day 2018

This Safer Internet Day a group of young people from across the UK were invited to the Safer Internet Day youth event in London. At this event the young people were able to take part in activities, present in the auditorium to guests, meet industry stakeholders and much more.

 Childnet Digital Leaders from Marner Primary School, one of the schools who attended the event, told us what they thought of the day:

First we did a quiz about internet there were questions like what kind of advice would you give to younger children about the internet?

Arafat

At first, when we arrived, I thought it was going to be boring but I had lots of fun. My confidence has definitely grown. I was talking to people I had never seen before. I met the minister of digital culture and we told her stuff that we knew about. I told her that I think you should be at least 13 years old to use social media. My best bit was showing adults around.

Basheera

When I went on my trip to safer internet day it was awesome. I was worried at first but there was no point because we were all creative and had our own ideas. We got used to each other and even faced our fears by standing on stage while being recorded saying our speeches which we made with only 1 rehearsal and this was a massive success. Some of the things we did were having a little chat about what you would do if you angry friend texts you saying a bad comment.                                                                          

Favor

When we arrived, we were given a space to put our things in like our coats and bags. Our first activity was about socializing with each, also known as getting to know each other. So we were given scenarios and we had to turn to the closest person to ourselves and talk about our opinions.

That was just a warm up. After the activity, Ellie, the person who was in charge of the activities, explained what areas of online safety the activities were based on. The big event was in the auditorium but first we had split into four groups : Industry, Schools, Parents/Carers, Young People. We had to plan what we were meant to say. We had a rehearsal and it went well . Later in the day, we preformed to over 160 people about internet safety. My favourite part of the trip was the microphone box being thrown around and when you catch it you must speak into the cross on the soft part. We were very lucky to have such a wonderful experience.

Jonathon

Thank you Ellie for picking Marner Primary school to come to BT. I never knew I had great ideas to tell the visitors. I liked it when the visitors came and said their ideas to me because I learnt something that I had no idea about. All the 4 school came together and watched a video about a man that rapped about the internet. When everyone came, we got split into groups and working together as groups and sharing our ideas was so fun.

Roseline

My thoughts and what we did in SID 2018!

I really liked the event because it was fun and we met people from different companies. We were on stage in front of many people [I was nervous!] We also were in charge as tour guides and we ran activities. We worked with four schools. At first I was nervous but then I was excited! We focused on a question but in four parts [ I was in parents and carers] the question was: How do you show respect and empathy online? As a parent or carer you should have a lot of time with your child about online and how to show respect and empathy online.

Sabbir

I really liked when we were inviting guests to our activity and showing them where everything is. When we were writing notes about our speech on the auditorium, I felt quite nervous because I didn’t know what to say. Our teacher for that day “Tom” inspired me to not be nervous. On the test run, I said only 2 notes into a sentence, but when all the guests were there, I had to be brave. I mostly enjoyed inviting guests and play with the BeeBot activity.

(Note): Thanks for giving us goody bags!

-From Tanim 

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Why compulsory RSE is so important

This International Women’s Day (IWD) Kat Tremlett, Professionals Online Safety Helpline practitioner, looks at compulsory sex and relationships education (RSE) and the positive impact it could have on future generations of women and girls, but more importantly men and boys perceptions of socially acceptable norms.

According to Childnet’s Project DeShame report (Dec 2017) 80% of young people aged 13-17 in the UK have “witnessed people their age using terms like ‘sket’ or ‘slut’ to describe girls” in a derogative way and over half of UK respondents aged 13-17 years (51%) said they have witnessed people their age circulating nude or nearly nude images of someone they know, while 6% have been the target of this behaviour. It’s more important now than ever to ensure that every young person has access to RSE.

The DfE recently published its consultation proposal around compulsory RSE in schools, (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/595828/170301_Policy_statement_PSHEv2.pdf) which will allow parents to withdraw their children from RSE classes. We believe every young person should have access to well taught RSE as not having access to it can, at best narrow the mind-set of a young person about sexuality, relationships and gender and, at the worst be an indicator of a potential safeguarding matter.

So why shout about this now? Obviously International Women’s Day provides the perfect platform for advocating a better education for all in the pursuit of diminishing violence against women and girls and of course to men and boys. But it’s more than this. The Professionals Online Safety Helpline saw a 280% rise in cases involving peer to peer sexual harassment in 2017 highlighting the very real need for compulsory RSE in schools.

Cases which previously may have been about an isolated incident involving non consensual sharing of youth produced sexual imagery or harassment have become increasingly complex with several different factors to unpick and work through. To read more about what we can do to tackle online sexual harassment in particular, please read this blog.

In part we have to give credit to positive campaigns such as the #MeToo in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, #NeverOK across university guilds in the UK, Time’s Up in the US and Dare 2 Care in the UK raising awareness and highlighting the sheer scale of the problem and making sure everyone knows it’s simply not OK. Movements such as these empower people, young and old alike, to come forward and share their stories which in turn for us means a rise in the number of cases involving sexual harassment.

But in order to stop people from having to share these horrific stories in the first placed education has to be the answer: not just learning what abuse looks like in a relationship but also what a healthy relationship looks like; what the laws in the UK state with regard to misogyny, stalking and harassment, sexual violence, equality and British values so that young people know where they stand, what is OK and more importantly what’s not.

Ignorance should not be an excuse, but being withdrawn from RSE could result in young people not recognising when they are at risk of abuse or identify a harmful behaviour. Perhaps, not having access to well-taught RSE could be cited as a reason for not knowing that they were doing something wrong in future.

So, this IWD let’s spread the message that compulsory RSE with no option to opt out is the only solution moving forward if we want to put an end to sexual harassment in the UK.

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Tackling online sexual harassment this International Women’s Day

Childnet, a partner in the UK Safer Internet Centre, looks at how we can tackle online sexual harassment this International Women’s Day.

Today is International Women’s Day, a global day that celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women as well as calling on everyone to ‘Press for Progress’ to achieve gender equality.

At Childnet, we see how the internet has transformed how we connect with others, form relationships, explore our identity and express ourselves. It has provided enormous opportunities for girls to take part in social action, express themselves and harness the power of the internet to make a real difference.

However, our work with children, schools, parents and carers also shows that the sexual harassment, misogyny and sexualisation is a real problem for many girls online. Now more than ever, we see a global call for ending violence and harassment against women and girls, and it is clear to us that this must look at the online world as well.

Sexual harassment is not a new phenomenon, but the ‘audience’ and ‘evidence’ provided by digital technology facilitates it and has opened the door for new forms of sexual harassment.

At Childnet we are currently working on Project deSHAME, a two and a half year collaborative project which looks at tackling online sexual harassment taking place amongst children and young people. Whilst our recent research showed that both girls and boys are being targeted by online sexual harassment by their peers, it also highlighted that this form of harassment takes place in a gendered context, with girls being more likely to be targeted than boys, particularly for some forms of online sexual harassment and these incidents often resulting in more negative outcomes for girls.

A recent survey of 1559 UK teens undertaken by Project deSHAME found that:

• Almost a third of girls ages 13-17 years (31%) have received unwanted sexual messages online from their peers (compared to 11% of boys) in the last year
• 1 in 10 of teens have been targeted with sexual threats such as rape threats in the last year
• 14% of girls aged 13-17 said a boyfriend or girlfriend had pressured them to share nude images in the last year (compared to 7% of boys)
• 65% of teens say that girls are judged more harshly than boys for rumours being spread about their sexual behaviour online

You can read the full report looking at peer-based online sexual harassment.

Project deSHAME aims to increase reporting of online sexual harassment as well as to improve how local communities, including schools and police, work together to deliver effective preventative interventions and to respond effectively and sensitively when young people do report.

Young people are a key part of helping to change behaviours and attitudes and our Youth Advisory Board are being consulted on each stage of the project. Afua, one of our Youth Board Member’s delivered a powerful and inspiring speech at this year’s Safer Internet Day event, looking at how young people can be at the forefront of creating a more respectful internet.

Together we can all come together to #PressforProgress!

What is online sexual harassment?

Online sexual harassment is unwanted sexual conduct on any digital platform and is recognised as a form of sexual violence.

Online sexual harassment encompasses a wide range of behaviours that use digital content (images, videos, posts, messages, pages) on a variety of different platforms (private or public).

It can make a person feel threatened, exploited, coerced, humiliated, upset, sexualised or discriminated against.

Please see our full definition of the types of online sexual harassment that can take place and how it can impact different groups of young people differently.

What can we do about it?

If you see online sexual harassment taking place, take action.

Report any content to the platform that you see it on. Each platform has a different way that you can report – find out more here. Remember, if you do make a report it will remain anonymous, this applies to any platform you may use.

It’s happening to a friend or someone I know

• If you know someone who is being targeted, make sure they are safe and they are receiving help. Listen and be there for them. Speak to them and encourage them to tell a trusted adult. This could be a teacher, parent, carer, older sibling or cousin.
• Think how about you can #PressforProgress and call out unwelcome behaviour online - don’t go along with it.

It’s happening to me

It can be really upsetting and worrying if you are being targeted by online sexual harassment. Remember, it’s never too trivial to tell someone. Reach out to an adult that you trust and can speak to. It’s not your fault, even if people have made it seem like it is and you shouldn’t be embarrassed. If it helps, ask a friend to come with you to talk to an adult. There are also places where you can get free and confidential support:

• Childline - You can get confidential help and advice about any problem that you may have. You can chat online at www.childline.org.uk or call for free 0800 1111  
• The Mix - Free confidential support for young people under 25 that will help you explore any issue that is worrying you and find organisations that can help you further. You can chat online at www.themix.org.uk or call for free on 0808 808 4994 
• Stonewall  - An organisation for all young lesbian, gay, bi and trans people – as well as those who are questioning. There’s helpful advice on their website and you can also find out about other local services in your area. www.youngstonewall.org.uk  

I’m a professional working with children

­If a young person comes to you and is being targeted by online sexual harassment by their peers make sure you:

• Take their report seriously and listen to them
• Respect their privacy and their choices without offering confidentiality. Make sure the young person knows that you will have to tell someone if you are worried about their, or another child’s safety.
• Make sure that any decisions you make are done in discussion with the young person and they always know why and how you are going to take the matter forward

The Professionals Online Safety Helpline (POSH) can assist professionals and volunteers who work with children and young people with any concern about online safety.
For further advice and resources please click here.

If you would like to be kept up to date with Project deSHAME then please sign up to our mailing list.

International Women’s Day

online sexual harassment

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Safer Internet Day 2018 youth event video content is now live!

The Safer Internet Day 2018 youth event video content is now live! The videos show what happened at the London Safer Internet Day event, as well as key speeches from young people, industry and government.

Two members of the Childnet Youth Advisory Board played important parts in this year’s Safer Internet Day London event, read about their experiences and watch the videos below.

Afua, a member of the Childnet Youth Advisory Board, gave a Key note speech at the Safer Internet Day London event:

The 6th February had been marked in my planner in red with a big smiley face for a long time. As the time grew nearer it became more real and so did everything else like essay deadlines all for the same day but because I wanted to be part of #Safer Internet Day 2K18 my priorities were set. I had cleared the day in advance and wanted to honour my commitment to make the keynote speech and be one of the young people who spoke at the podium that day. The writing of the keynote speech was not difficult as it was very relevant. This is because as a Childnet Youth board member I had been exposed to the ideas in this year’s theme “Create, Connect and Share Respect: a better internet starts with you”.  The most exciting guest I met was not one but two amazing young pupils who did not hesitate to enthusiastically take myself and my mother downstairs to check out one of the stations. My biggest challenge was practicing my speech, but this was easily overcome by Ellie’s suggestion to do it in front of the camera, it not only boosted my confidence, but it also helped my words flow more freely. Also, the camera guy (Matt) was so helpful in suggesting that I repeat the first sentence of my speech again at the end to give my audience a chance to remember the main message.

Overall, my biggest take away-s are #ItStartsWithUs, we should continue to be the change we want to see in this world and Share Respect. Instead of merely sharing posts and banter always remember to dab in a bit of respect. I like that. (Arghh I should have said that in my speech)

Watch the full speech:

 

Charlie, a member of the Childnet Youth Advisory Board, was the chair of the Safer Internet Day London event:

Safer internet day 2018 was amazing. To be there representing young people was a huge honour and I really felt that the young people who were involved had fantastic ideas in their presentations and I am confident that these ideas were listened to and will be put into action. What an inspiring venue the BT centre was. The best part of the day was the conference itself it was a real eye opener and was an experience that I will keep with me forever. I also loved doing the live stream on Facebook with Afua showing the interactive workshops as I thought they really showed how young people can stay safe on the internet. It was great meeting everyone, especially the Childnet group, I particularly enjoyed listening to Michael Bell (Member of the Department for Education).  It was a challenge to host a conference talking in front of that many people, however because I feel passionate about this subject it was great that so many people turned up to listen to us the young people and our opinions. After it had finished I was confident that I had done a good job and the conference was a success.

Huge shout out to Ellie and all the team for organising such a fantastic interactive event.

Roll on Safer Internet Day 2019!!

Watch the full event video:

 

Safer Internet Day

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Children’s digital lives central to key consultations

UK Safer Internet Centre responds to key consultations relating to children’s experiences online.

This month has seen the close of the Department for Education’s call for evidence on changes to sex and relationship education and PSHE in schools, as well as their consultation on changes to the statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe In Education (KCSIE). Both of these sought views on how best to support schools in embedding digital aspects within safeguarding and preventative education.

The KSCIE consultation also included the opportunity to feed back on new departmental non-statutory advice document covering sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges, which has been shaped by our youth research into online sexual harassment among 13-17s and our Youth Advisory Board of Project deSHAME.

Meanwhile, this week is the final chance to contribute to the ICO’s consultation into their draft guidance about children and the GDPR, as well as have your say about the Department of Health’s green paper about transforming children and young people’s mental health provision.

Addressing a similar theme, the Science and Technology Committee launched an inquiry last week into the impact of social media and screen-use on young people’s health.

This activity is set against the backdrop of the DCMS consultation into the government’s Internet Safety Strategy, which closed in December and is currently being analysed.

This breadth of activity reflects the importance of understanding the impact of digital technology on children and young people’s lives and how key sectors, including education, health, the internet industry, government and wider, can work collaboratively to effectively promote children’s wellbeing.

At the UK Safer Internet Centre we look forward to continuing to work with all of these sectors to develop effective, child-focused and evidence-led solutions to the challenges we face to ensure that all children thrive online.

Our responses

• Childnet Response to the DCMS Internet Safety Strategy Green Paper
• SWGfL Response to the DCMS Internet Safety Strategy Greenpaper
• Childnet Response to the Department for Education consultation on changes to the statutory guidance Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE) and a new departmental non-statutory advice document covering sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges.
• SWGfL response to the proposed changes to Keeping Children Safe in Education
• Childnet Response to the Department for Education call for evidence on Changes to the teaching of Sex and Relationship Education and PSHE
• SWGfL’s response to PHE’s Rise Above Mental Health Strategy
• SWGfL’s response to the Children’s Commissioner’s report into social media use among young people

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Young people took part in Safer Internet Day 2018 competition in Wales

For Safer Internet Day this year, SWGfL, a partner in the UK Safer Internet Centre, worked in collaboration with Welsh Government to run a competition for young people across Wales.

The competition called young people, aged 3 – 19 to take part in the Safer Internet Day 2018 campaign by expressing how they feel online through the mediums of art, film, music or words.

Young people of all ages took to their paintbrushes, score sheets, cameras and pens and unleashed their creativity to express their feelings. We received close to 300 entries and the standard was extremely high. The judges had a very difficult task on their hands and were thrilled to see the wonderful imagination, knowledge and variety of approaches to being online shown by young people in their entries.

The finalists in the competition were invited to the official Safer Internet Day event on 6 February at the Pierhead in Cardiff and shared their creations with those who attended. The Cabinet Secretary for Education Kirsty Williams AM announced the winners and presented them with awards.

 Here are the winners of the Safer Internet Day 2018 competition in Wales.

Primary Category

Winner: Hafod y Wern Community Primary School in Wrexham – with their Safer Internet Day film created by Year 5 and Year 6 children.

Second place: St Peters RC Primary School in Cardiff – with a poem written by Miss Lia’s Year 3 class.

Secondary Category

Winner: Blackwood Comprehensive School in Gwent - ‘Internet space’ poem written by Rose Christmas in Year 9

Second place: Ceredigion Youth Service - with a film entitled ‘Snapchat safety’.

Highly commended

A highly commended award in the competition went to The Rofft School in Wrexham for their Safer Internet Day song.

You can see all winning entries and a wider selection of entries on the Wales Digital Learning platform Hwb.

Safer Internet Day

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Today is World Book Day - Celebrate with Digiduck!

Sharing a story with your child is such a special experience, and for World Book Day 2018 (Thursday 1st March) we have just the story for you!

The internet is an amazing resource, both for children and adults, but learning to navigate the online world can be hard at times, and mistakes are sometimes made.

Children need gentle guidance, and support from those that they trust, to be able to develop their online skills and safety knowledge, to get the best out of the internet and all that technology has to offer. 

The adventures of Digiduck

When Digiduck anonymously receives a picture of one of his friends looking silly, he is keen to share the joke. Will the help and advice of Wise_Owl (from Digiduck’s favourite website the ‘Family Farmyard’) influence his decision? You’ll have to read to find out!

Printed copies of Digiduck’s Big Decision are available in A4 size and contain questions for discussion with children aged 3-7, plus advice for teachers, parents and carers at the end.

Alternatively you can read our online ebook, or download the PDF version if you want to print your own copy. If you speak another language, Digiduck has been made available in Spanish and Norwegian too!

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