Entries now open for the Childnet Film Competition 2019

The tenth annual Childnet Film Competition is now open for entries!

This year we are asking young people ages 7-18 to create short films showcasing the positive use of the internet. The Childnet Film Competition is a great opportunity for young people to create inspiring films which will be used to educate and inspire others across the UK.

Film Competition is 10!

In 2019 the Childnet Film Competition is turning 10 years old. From animations to silent dramas, over the last 10 years we have seen some amazing films.

Each year we ask groups of young people, whether they are from schools or youth groups, to create short films highlighting the positive use of the internet and highlighting the ways that young people can come together to create positive change online.

It has been amazing not only to see the ways these films have been skilfully created but also the way that they have then been used as impactful tools to educate young people around the UK about important online safety issues.

The two categories

The Film Competition is split into two age categories and schools or youth organisations must oversee and submit entries on behalf of all participants. The top three films in each category will be invited to a private screening at the BFI in London and the winners will be awarded film kits for their school or youth organisation. See the Finalists’ Event last year!

Primary Category

In the Primary category of the Film Competition we are asking young people to create a 60-second film with the theme:

Our future online: The internet belongs to me and this is how it’s going to be

What can we all do to make our future internet a great and safe place?

Each group should contain between 2 and 8 people, including those behind the scenes. To help you create the film we have created a range of resources, including top tips, FAQs and planning help.

Secondary Category

In the Secondary age category of the Film Competition we are asking young people to create a 120-second film with the theme:

Our future online: What’s your vision for a better internet?

What can we all do to make our future internet a great and safe place?

Each group should contain between 2 and 8 people, including those behind the scenes. To help you create the film we have created a range of resources, including top tips, FAQs and planning help.

Resources to help you

We have created a range of resources to help you to make the best film possible! These include:

• Top Tips
• FAQs
• Copyright information

Prizes

Each year there are some great prizes to be won from the competition! These include filmmaking kits, high-quality DSLR cameras, tripods and more.

Key dates for your diary

COMPETITION LAUNCH: 18th February

COMPETITION CLOSE: Monday 10th June

EVENT: first week of July

Childnet Film Competition

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How was Safer Internet Day in your school?

We are calling all teachers to evaluate Safer Internet Day 2019; you could even win a £50 Amazon voucher!

Safer Internet Day 2019 was the biggest one yet, with 1,668 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.

Feedback from teachers about the day itself really helps us understand what you need, and how schools take part. We have created a survey to help us learn about how schools got involved in Safer Internet Day and to find out how we can improve the support we provide.

For the first time we’ve included some questions on online safety activities during the rest of the school year, so we can support schools and teachers even better.

We depend on your feedback to help us understand the impact the day can achieve, and build on the success of last year, when 97% of teachers surveyed said the day helped encourage conversations about safe use of the internet between teachers and pupils. Nearly 90% said that the day inspired pupils to play an active role in creating a better internet, and 40% of teachers said that taking part in the day led to disclosures about potential safeguarding issues online.

Complete the survey by Friday 15^th March and enter a prize draw for a £50 Amazon voucher.

Take the Safer Internet Day evaluation survey.

Safer Internet Day

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New Primary Pages – Guidance for parents and carers

Childnet has created a brand-new resource for children aged from 8 to 11. Parents and carers can use the information to support their family on a range of subjects from staying safe online to advice about online bullying and gaming. 

What are the Primary Pages?

Inspired by the most frequently asked questions we hear directly from young people in schools, we have created eight new information pages for primary pupils aged 8-11 years old.

Each page answers one of the following questions:

• What should I do if someone online is mean to me?
• What should I do if an online friend wants to meet up?
• What do I need to know about online gaming?
• How much time should I spend online?
• What does the report button do?
• What do I need to know about sharing things online?
• What makes a good online friend?
• How old do I need to be to access social media?

How can parents and carers use the children’s section of the website?

The pages have been written specifically for children to access if they have questions about staying safe online and include top tips, videos and short quizzes. This also makes them a fantastic resource for parents to use with their children to help support their family’s internet use. Some of the key things you can do are:

1. Share them with your child! For younger children, reading the pages together means you can support them if there are words or concepts they don’t understand, but for older children you may prefer to give them the opportunity to read them independently.
2. Start a conversation. Use the ideas introduced on the pages to start a conversation about your child’s internet use. If you have read the pages together, this process may begin naturally as a result, however you may also want to use our conversation starters to explore some ideas in greater depth.
3. Create a family agreement. Once you’ve got the conversation started, a family agreement is a great way to decide with your whole family how you all use the internet in a positive way whether at home, at school or at a friend’s house. Our family agreement template provides a framework that will help families set clear expectations for positive and safe internet use.  
4. Return to the pages when needed. The new information pages are a handy way to get conversations started, but remember they can also be useful for reminding you and your children of what to do in a particular situation. If your child starts talking to a new online friend, review the page What should I do if an online friend wants to meet up? Or if your child is interested in opening a social media account, then read the page How old do I need to be to access social media?

This content is delivered as part of our work in the UK Safer Internet Centre and is co-financed by the Connecting Europe Facility of the European Union.

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Liberia marks Safer Internet Day with crackdown on online child sexual abuse images and videos – supported by UK’s IWF

Taking another step in its global battle against online child sexual abuse content the IWF, a partner in the UK Safer Internet Centre, launches a web-based reporting system through which the citizens of Liberia can fight online child sexual abuse imagery – with help from expert analysts in the UK.

Liberia is the latest country in Africa to launch an IWF Reporting Portal. It means any person in Liberia who stumbles across suspected images of child sexual abuse online can now send the URL (web address) anonymously to the IWF in Cambridge where the images will be assessed and removal work triggered.

Launching on Safer Internet Day and the result of a partnership between the IWF, the Liberian government, Liberia’s Defence for Children International, and GSM service providers Orange Liberia, the IWF Portal is a pioneering initiative in a country where 95% children now use the internet.

Welcoming the west African state into the charity’s network, the IWF CEO and UKSIC Director Susie Hargreaves OBE, said:

“We’ve made the UK a very hostile environment for hosting such criminal material and the next step is reaching out to help others join the fight.”

The Liberia Portal is funded by a grant awarded by the global Fund to End Violence Against Children. This will fund the implementation of portals in 30 countries across the world. By the end of 2020, the total number of IWF Reporting Portals is planned to be 50. 

Ms Hargreaves added:

“Having somewhere to report child sexual abuse material on the internet is an important part of building a country’s cybersecurity which, in turn, enables a country’s internet economy to flourish. We recognise that this can be incredibly costly for countries who are dealing with a myriad of challenges, which is why the Fund to End Violence Against Children is so important. It enables us to provide the portals for free and in turn builds awareness of the need to combat this criminal content on a global scale.

“We also recognise that all countries are different which is why the partnerships in Liberia are vital as they provide advice to us, and steer and embed the portal.”

Since the IWF was founded in 1996, known child sexual abuse imagery hosted in the UK has plunged from 18% to less than 1% of the global total. 

Ms Hargreaves added: 

“The nature of the internet means you can be anywhere in the world and access child sexual abuse material hosted in another country. That’s why we’re supporting other countries in opening portals, often in places where poverty leaves children particularly vulnerable to exploitation. Everyone should have somewhere to report this material.” 

Locally-led IWF portals are already operating in several other African countries – Angola, DRC, Malawi, Tanzania, Mauritius, Uganda, Namibia, Mozambique and Zambia while round-table talks with potential portal partners in Comoros start this week.

This work is part of the WePROTECT Model National Response whereby governments and organisations in 2015 agreed to establish and deliver, in their own countries, a coordinated national response to online child sexual exploitation.

IWF has already helped establish such platforms in 25 countries – working with national governments, NGOs, local law enforcement partners, and regional telecoms networks to widen the battle against child sexual exploitation and abuse on the web. 

This article was originally published on the IWF website.

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Young people met Government and UK Safer Internet Centre representatives at Safer Internet Day events across the UK

Young people played a central role in Safer Internet Day 2019, from leading sessions and speaking at our youth events, to creating new resources, sharing their pledges, educating their peers and engaging with policy makers.

Over 2,000 organisations, schools and wider signed up as official supporters, and we know many more also joined in to celebrate the day. The breadth of activities on social media highlighted the scope of engagement right across the UK!

In England and Scotland young people met together with Ministers and other key policymakers at events run by the UK Safer Internet Centre to explore how we can all come ‘together for a better internet’.

London, England

In London, over 60 young people attended a special youth-led interactive event at the BT Centre, welcoming over 150 policymakers, industry, charities and media from across a range of sectors to discuss how young people navigate the challenges around consent online.

Pupils from Dr Challoners High School, Dundonald Primary School, Hoxton Garden Primary, Mayfield School, Orchard Primary School, Kaizen Primary School, Sarah Bonnell School, Southwold Primary School, and Titus Salt School came together to host the UK Safer Internet Centre’s event at the BT Centre.

The young people ran activity stations for guests, delivered key note speeches, gave interviews to media and took part in a panel discussion led by the BBC journalist Kate Russell.

Throughout the event there were speeches from the CEO of BT’s Consumer brands Marc Allera, Minister for Digital Margot James, and Department for Education Minister for Children and Families Nadhim Zahawi.

Scotland

Pupils from Newbattle High School welcomed the Minister for Childcare and Early Years, Maree Todd, to Newbattle High School on 5th February. Recently opened as a Centre for Digital Excellence, pupils showcased to the Minister their work on online safety. 

The Minister and the group of pupils had a discussion around the impact of technology on everyone’s lives, and the changes that have happened in a relatively short space of time.

Everton Football Club

Safer Internet Day 2019 kicked off at Goodison Park with Everton Football Club hosting 250 young people from 22 schools for workshops on this year’s theme of “Our internet, our choice” with a focus on understanding consent in a digital world.

Liverpool Football Club

Liverpool Football Club and the UK Safer Internet Centre hosted over 400 children at Anfield on Safer Internet Day. Thirty-one schools from across Liverpool gathered to listen to our online safety expert, play Safer Internet Day games, meet LFC players and tour the stadium.

The event was attended by footballing legend Robbie Fowler, first team men’s player Rhian Brewster and women’s team players, Leighanne Robe and Kirsty Linnett .They shared with the schools their best tips for keeping their personal information safe on the internet.

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland schools celebrated Safer Intenret day in a range of ways, including special assemblies, lessons and events. Many schools registered as supporters on the Safer Internet Day Supporters list, including Aughnacloy College, Sandelford school and Castlewellan Primary School.

Wales

Schools across Wales delivered activities for Safer Internet Day around the theme of “Our Internet, Our Choice: Understanding Consent in a Digital World,”. Many schools in Wales registered as official Safer Internet Day supporters, and told us a bit about their plans, these schools include Ysgol Bryn Coch, Ysgol Eirias, Ysgol Gatholig Santes Fair and Ysgol y Felin.

 

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Instagram makes changes to support and protect its most vulnerable users

Yesterday (7th Feb), Instagram announced a number of changes it will be making to its platform in order to help the most vulnerable users. Following a comprehensive review with global experts and academics on youth, mental health and suicide prevention, Instagram has made the decision to remove graphic images depicting self-harm from their platform. 

A summary of changes being made are:

• No longer allowing any graphic images of self-harm, such as cutting on Instagram – even if it would previously have been allowed.
• No longer allowing non-graphic, self-harm related content – such as healed scars – in search, hashtags and the explore tab, and this content won’t be recommended either.
• Getting more resources to people posting and searching for self-harm related content and directing them to organizations that can help.
• Consulting with experts to find out what more they can do.

Read the full update from Instagram here.

For further advice about reporting harmful content on Instagram and other social networks, visit www.reportharmfulcontent.online

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UKSIC responds to CMOs’ commentary on screen-based activities

The UK Safer Internet Centre (UKSIC) advocates the safe and responsible use of technology for young people and we welcome the UK Chief Medical Officers’ (CMOs) advice of a balanced approach to screen-based activities. At the UKSIC’s we encourage families to use digital devices together, create family rules and for adults to act as positive role models for young people. We are pleased that the CMOs have signposted UKSIC’s resources in their advice to parents and carers.

Click to see the advice infographic

Guidance from the CMOs includes advice on sharing content online. Coordinated in the UK by UKSIC, Safer Internet Day 2019 on the 5th February saw thousands of schools and organisations mark the day by learning about consent in a digital world. The resources are available to download from our website and include Education Packs for use in lessons and assemblies, accompanying SID TV videos to start conversations with young people and top tips for staying safe online.

Research conducted to mark Safer Internet Day 2019 reveals how sharing and viewing screen-based content is integral to the lives of young people. The findings highlight that young people can get into difficulty when navigating consent online, emphasising the responsibility that we all have to support children and young people.

The UKSIC has developed a range of services and resources for young people, parents, teachers, healthcare staff and other members of the children’s workforce. We are proud of the successes we have achieved in the field of online safety and we will continue to work with schools, industry and government to make the internet a better place for children and young people.

Information and resources for children, parents and carers:

• Report Harmful Content Online - the cross-platform social media advice and reporting service
• The Family Agreement -  the family agreement template provides a framework that helps families set clear expectations for positive and safe internet use
• Screen time and healthy balance activities
• Screen time boundaries advice for parents
• Digital wellbeing -  guidance for parents and carers on how they can support their child at different ages of their life with their digital wellbeing
• SMART rules - the rules for primary aged children on how to be smart and stay safe online
• Keeping under 5s safe online 

Information, resources, guidance and services for professionals working with children and families:

• Online Safety Live - Free online safety briefings for professionals working with children and young people
• ​The Professionals Online Safety Helpline - The UK’s only helpline dedicated to assisting the children’s workforce with online safety issues
• Responding to incidents of sexting, covering questions of whether to escalate to law enforcement.
• Understanding, preventing and responding to cyberbullying, guidance for schools.
• Online sexual harassment among children
• The SWGfL Store - A range of free and paid-for online safety resources including information leaflets, postcards and booklets
• Online Safety Training - 

Information and advice for professionals working with children on how to protect themselves and their professional reputation:

• The Professionals Online Safety Helpline - The UK’s only helpline dedicated to assisting the children’s workforce with online safety issues
• Social networking safety
• 360 degree Safe - the free online safety self-review tool for schools
• Report Harmful Content - the cross-platform social media advice and reporting service

Download the advice infographic PDF

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