Young Minds publishes report into impact of cyber bullying on children and young people's mental health

Children’s mental health charity YoungMinds, Alex Chalk, MP, and The Children’s Society, have published their report into the impact of cyberbullying on children and young people’s mental health.

More than 1,000 children and young people aged 11-25 took part in the survey which looked at what social media companies are doing to tackle bullying on their platforms, and whether the industry is doing enough to protect children and young people on their sites. 

A panel of MPs, Peers and other experts lead the inquiry which was made up of an online survey and 3 evidence sessions in the Houses of Parliament. 

Issues that the inquiry looked at include:

• The effect of online bullying and harassment (including through instant-messaging) on children and young people’s mental health.
• Measures currently taken by social media to tackle online bullying.
• What more can be done to make social media a safer space for children and young people’s mental health.

The report identified a number of issues that need to be addressed to ensure that social media companies play their part – together with Government, schools, families and industry – in creating a digital environment that limits the prevalence of cyberbullying and its negative impacts on children and young people.

We have made a number of recommendations to social media companies, and to the Government to ensure that the online world is a safe and enjoyable place for children and young people.

View the report

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Education for a Connected World

In this article, Karl Hopwood, looks at the new UKCCIS education framework for a Connected World and how it can help young people build resilience, develop critical thinking and become responsible users of technology.

Karl is an independent online safety expert. He is a member of UKCCIS (UK Council for Child Internet Safety) and sits on the advisory board for the UK Safer Internet Centre and the education advisory board for CEOP.

Mobile phones, tablets, the internet and social media play a significant role in all our lives and in particular in the lives of children and young people. Recent Ofcom research found that 74% of 12-15-year olds have a social media profile and that 99% of this age group go online for around 21 hours per week.

Clearly there are huge benefits to be gained from going online but also risks and challenges which need to be managed. The media are constantly reminding us of these with some shocking stories of things that have happened to children and young people when they have been online. On Safer Internet Day 2018, the UK Council for Child Internet Safety supported by the DfE and DCMS published Education for a Connected World, a framework designed to equip children and young people for digital life.

The framework was developed by the UKCCIS Education Working Group with colleagues from SWGfL and the UK Safer Internet Centre playing a significant role in writing the document. The idea is to map out the skills and competences that children and young people should have at different ages and stages in order to be able to navigate the online world as safely as possible, and perhaps more importantly, to know what to do when things go wrong.

The term ‘online safety’ encompasses an ever-growing number of different issues and the framework breaks these down into eight aspects:

1. Self-image and identity
2. Online relationships
3. Online reputation
4. Online bullying
5. Managing online information
6. Health, wellbeing and lifestyle
7. Privacy and security
8. Copyright and ownership

Beginning with the skills that the youngest children should have when they are starting school, the framework develops and builds on these until pupils are in their late teens and need to be taking full responsibility for what they are doing online and how this could affect others.

The framework is not intended to be a checklist where adults working with young people should slavishly highlight all of the areas that they think have been covered, rather as a tool to help adults who are working with children and young people to build up resilience, develop critical thinking and become responsible users of technology.

It aims to promote meaningful debate and move online safety education beyond some of the outdated messages such as don’t talk to strangers (online) or don’t give out any personal information (online). By addressing issues such as health, wellbeing and lifestyle, the framework is able to provide support for those who are trying to support young people when navigating their lives on social media.

Recent research from the UK Safer Internet Centre (released on Safer Internet Day) found that 8-17-year olds needed 214 followers on Instagram in order to feel happy. This begs the question what happens if they don’t hit that target? The framework suggests that 11-14-year olds should both recognise the benefits:

I can reflect on and assess the role that digital media plays in my life and give clear examples of where it benefits my lifestyle

as well as identify the challenges:

I can describe some of the pressures that people can feel when they are using social media (e.g. peer pressure, a desire for peer approval, “FOMO”)

Over the next few weeks we will be publishing a number of articles considering the different aspects of the new UKCCIS Education framework for a Connected World in more detail and looking at ways that it could be used by adults working with children and young people.

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Childnet Film Competition now open

Childnet call on young people to ‘Connect with respect’ and enter their Film Competition

Childnet, a partner in the UK Safer Internet Centre, has launched the ninth Childnet Film Competition to encourage young people aged 7-18 to create a short film to educate their peers about staying safe online.

Delivered by Childnet as part of its work in the UK Safer Internet Centre, the competition aims to encourage young people to have respectful interactions online and gives young people the opportunity to harness their creativity and share their understanding of online safety issues.

Judged by a panel of experts from the BBC, BAFTA, BBFC and BFI, the winning films will be shown at the finalists’ event in London and will be used as educational resources in schools across the UK.

This year’s theme focusses on how young people can ‘connect with respect’ and work together to make the internet a better place for children and young people.

As Becky Nancarrow, Senior Education Projects Officer at Childnet, said:

Over the past nine years, hundreds of young people have shown us how they can use their creativity, passion and skills to educate and inspire their peers to stay safe online.  We are hugely excited to see the films that young people will be entering for this year’s Childnet Film Competition and how they can help shape a respectful and better internet for all.

Connect with respect – how to take part

The Film Competition is split into two age categories and schools or youth organisations must oversee and submit entries on behalf of all participants. For both categories, young people must create a film in response to the theme:  ‘Connect with respect - a better internet starts with us!’

• Primary category: 7-11 year olds are invited to create a 60 second film  
• Secondary category: 11-18 year olds are invited to create a 2 minute film

For both age groups, Childnet are looking for creative, imaginative films which show how young people can make a positive difference online. Young people might express their ideas through comedy, animation, or music. They will be encouraged to consider different filmmaking styles such as creating an advert, campaign or documentary.

Childnet have developed resource packs including storyboard templates, guides to filmmaking and other useful documents to help schools and youth organisations engage and support young people in making their films.

Closing date and how to enter

Entries need to be sent to Childnet by 11th June, including entry and media consent forms which can be found at www.childnet.com/film-comp. There is also important information about copyright that entrants will need to consider.

The shortlisted films will be shown on the big screen in front of industry guests and young people at the Childnet Film Competition 2018 Event at the BFI London Southbank and will also receive a BBFC rating.

The Film Competition winners will each receive a filmmaking kit for their school which includes a Canon DSLR camera, tripod and clapperboard.

The winners will be decided by an expert panel which includes:

• Catherine McAllister, Head of Safeguarding and Child Protection at BBC Children’s
• David Austin OBE, Chief Executive of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC)
• Joanna van der Meer, Film Tutor and Family Learning Programmer at BFI Southbank
• Lisa Prime, Children’s Events Programmer at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)

For media enquiries and to request images please contact Becca Cawthorne: becca@childnet.com / 0207 639 6967

About Childnet Film Competition

Childnet’s Film Competition is now in its ninth year. Delivered as part of its work as one of three charities in the UK Safer Internet Centre, the Film Competition encourages young people aged 7-18 to create a short film to educate their peers about staying safe online. The project engages schools in using new technology for creative and positive uses and equips young people with the skills they need to become confident digital creators. In addition, through the process, the young people create valuable resources to educate their peers about staying safe online and develop their own understanding of what it means to be a good digital citizen.

“It was an amazing experience being able to watch our film on the big screen with our own BBFC rating… Thank you for our prizes’ they are already being put to great use and we have inspired others to want to create their own films to develop their learning.”  - Teacher from winning school in Childnet Film Competition 2017

Important dates:

• Competition opens: Wednesday 21st February
• Competition closes: Monday 11th June
• Finalists notified: Monday 18th June
• Screening and finalist’s event at the BFI: Tuesday 3rd July

To enter the Childnet Film Competition please send an email to film@childnet.com to request an information pack. If you would like any more information, or find out more and download the schools packs visit www.childnet.com/film-comp

Childnet Film Competition

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Teacher Survey – Safer Internet Day Feedback

We are calling all teachers to help us evaluate Safer Internet Day 2018!

Safer Internet Day 2018 was the biggest one yet, with over 1,249 schools and colleges registered on our supporters list and events happening all over the UK; but we need your help to make sure next Safer Internet Day is even bigger and better.

We created a short survey designed to help us learn about how schools got involved in Safer Internet Day and to find out if there are any ways in which we can improve the support we provide.

It also helps us understand the impact the day can achieve, building on last year’s success which saw 98% of teachers surveyed saying the day helped encourage conversations about safe use of the internet between teachers and pupils.

The survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete and will help us make Safer Internet Day an even bigger success in the future.

Complete the survey by Sunday 4th March to be entered into our prize draw to be in with a chance of winning a £50 Amazon voucher.

Take the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/XBRKDKL

Safer Internet Day

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Childnet Digital Leaders take part in Safer Internet Day 2018

The Stanburn Primary School Digital Leaders tell us about their time at the Safer Internet Day event in London.

I am so lucky to be a Digital Leader and have represented my school (Stanburn Primary School) in the most amazing experience of a lifetime - my BEST day ever. For our first Safer Internet Day since qualifying as digital leaders we were fortunate enough to be one of four schools attending the Safer Internet Day event at the BT Centre in London, on Tuesday 6th February. The other schools were Marner Primary, Acklam Grange, and Canon’s High. Throughout the day we participated in various activities related to this year’s theme: Create, Connect and Share Respect: a better internet starts with you.

To start off our day we split into two groups and took part in different activities. For the first activity we were shown a text message and were asked how we would respond to it. We could either respond the old fashion way (writing on paper) or we could log onto a website and post our reply there. For the ‘Moral Compass’ activity we were given a scenario and were then asked to stand in the corner with the description that we felt matched the situation (it depends, no way, yes etc.)

Following this, we were split into four groups, focusing on young people, parents, industries and schools/teachers. We discussed what each of these could do to make online experiences better for young people, and we planned a presentation. During this period, two fortunate children from each school met Margot James MP (Minister of State for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport), guided her around the event and got a chance to talk to her about young people’s experiences online.

After a quick break, we found which stations we would be manning in the afternoon whilst professionals from around the digital industry visited the event. These visitors included companies like BBFC, Vodafone, Roblox OFCOM and more. The stations included: ‘Jargon Busting’, 'Ask and Answer’, 'My Emoji Self’ and 'What The Theme Means To Us’. We also rehearsed our presentations and met Charlie and Afua, members of Childnet's Youth Advisory Board who would also be presenting later.

In the afternoon we presented our thoughts on young people’s experiences online on stage in the auditorium and listened to speeches made by Nick Lane (Managing Director of Customer Service, EE), Will Gardner (Director UK Safer Internet Centre) and Michael Bell (Head of Safeguarding, DfE). Presenting was very nerve-racking but thankfully we were given great tips from Childnet’s Caroline and Ellie on how to cope with nerves and these tips really helped me in my presentation.

The presentations finished off a truly amazing once in a lifetime opportunity and I would like to thank Childnet for giving us such an amazing experience. My favourite part of the day was meeting many digital industries’ workers and talking to them about online safety. The main thing that I have learnt and would like to share with my school is that everyone has a part to play in making the internet a better place whether it is big or small. As well as this, I would like to teach my school community (students, teachers and parents) how they can help their friends and family online; some of these things include: learning about healthy online relationships and that the internet is not always what it seems.

-Stanburn Primary School Digital Leaders

Find out more about the Childnet Digital Leaders Programme

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UK Government launches new Education Framework for a Connected World

Last week, to coincide with Safer Internet Day, the UK Government launched its new Education Framework for a Connected World.

In this article, Ken Corish, Online Safety Director for SWGfL – one of the partners in the UK Safer Internet Centre – talks about the work that went into designing the framework and why it’s so important.

The old argument goes: “Technology changes so fast that we can’t keep pace with it enough to successfully influence children’s online behaviour. They know so much more about it than us and we have a lot to learn. “

Well whilst it’s true that technology rapidly shape shifts in front of our very eyes, human evolution and behaviour doesn’t. Certainly not enough in the eight or so years mobile technology has been around.

As educators, mentors, parents and adults, one of the things that we are not too bad at is supporting children’s development, knowledge and behaviour. We’ve done it for centuries through the careful crafting of educative programmes; trialling, reviewing, evaluating as we adapt to the ever changing demands of the world. The one area we haven’t really organised well is how we educate for those same things in this new environment we call “online”.

Whilst many organisations, including our own, have created a vast raft of resource to meet the issues as they develop, the whole landscape is confusing and disparate to those who need to draw on those resources relevant to the needs of the age-group they work with. We very often sing from different hymn-sheets aligned with our cause.

What if we pooled our collective knowledge about what we already know; from what research tells us; from the professional dialogue we have across organisations; from the issues we deal with on a daily basis; from the wider global dialogue on online behaviour? And what if we used that global audit to establish a set of expectations; a set of skills, knowledge and behaviours we would expect a child or young person to have that allows them to flourish in their use of technology?

Over the last eighteen months, SWGfL, with the UKCCIS Education Group, has begun the process of mapping those expectations against eight key areas of online behaviour in a framework that provides scope and sequence from very young children through to 18 year-olds. 

It draws on the collective expertise of groups that include:

• Barnardo’s 
• CEOP
• Childnet
• Department for Education
• Kent County Council
• London Grid for Learning 
• NSPCC
• PSHE Association
• UK Safer Internet Centre

Published by the Department for Digital Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) and announced by the UK Prime Minister on Safer Internet Day 2018, this UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) framework has been designed to identify those opportunities for anyone shaping their teaching and approach in this area: schools; social care; police; health; youth organisations. It brings the current online technology landscape into one document and maps those opportunities against age/developmental stage.

Framework for Education for a Connected World

It has a relevance to all of us who want to create opportunities to have conversations that affect positive change. It is currently in consultation phase and we would love to know what you think.

Take part in the consultation survey

We think it is both challenging and relevant and hope it assists in creating online technology education that makes a difference.

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#SID2018 on social media – It starts with us!

Safer Internet Day 2018 was the biggest yet! With over 1,700 supporters running activities across the UK, youth led events in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, over 50 football club getting involved and the #SID2018 hashtag trending all day in the UK!

We saw some amazing content shared on social media to celebrate Safer Internet Day, from organisations – including companies, government, charities, schools, police, football clubs and more – as well as individuals, all showcasing the great things they were doing to help create a kinder and better internet.

Across social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Snapchat there was a huge amount of activity. The day kickstarted with the Thunderclap which saw 953 supporters join the mass social media post, collectively reaching over 9 million people.

#SID2018 trended throughout the day in the UK, brought to life with the Twitter custom emoji, while users around the UK used the Safer Internet Day Snapchat filter and celebrities such as James McVey, Grace Victory, and Riyadh Khalaf shared their messages and top tips for being safe online.

For Safer Internet Day why not share a @Snapchat using the #SID2018 filter! Also keep an eye out for our adverts featuring @DianaAward ambassador @TheVampsJames. pic.twitter.com/O3U7yeTzPF

— UK Safer Internet (@UK_SIC) February 6, 2018

In addition, the UK Safer Internet Centre worked with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat to run advertising campaigns across their platforms for Safer Internet Day, maximising the reach of the campaign.

#ItStartsWithUs

This Safer Internet Day we asked everyone to share their pledge for creating a better internet. We saw some really inspiring examples across social media of how people saw their actions, and the actions of those around them, combining together to help create change online.

Children across the school have made their pledges to make the internet a safer place! #ItStartsWithUs #SID2018 pic.twitter.com/WnvAuOwJq7

— Stivichall Primary (@stivichallps) February 7, 2018

We saw display boards made up of jigsaw pieces, videos, animations and more all posted under the ItStartsWithUs hashtag.

Wow…an impressive Safer Internet Day jigsaw wall. Thanks to all who completed our special homework last night #SID2018 pic.twitter.com/XNJuOPBWDS

— Pond Park Primary (@pondparkprimary) February 6, 2018

See our highlights from the campaign on Storify.

Safer Internet Day

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