6th February 2013
Connect with respect
By Will Gardner, Chief Executive Officer, Childnet
In our work with schools, parents, carers and teachers, we equip children and those that support them with the skills to make good decisions wherever and whenever they are using the internet.
Safety is an empowering digital skill and we all have a role in supporting young people online and making sure that they have the skills and the tools to use technology safely.
Yesterday was Safer Internet Day. Its focus was on online rights and responsibilities and we were all asked to “Connect with respect”. At Childnet, we form part of the UK Safer Internet Centre, and organise Safer Internet Day (SID) for the UK. SID is celebrated in over 100 countries now, and in its 10th year. It’s a great calendar opportunity for us all to shout out about this important issue, to try and reach as many children, parents and carers as we possibly can.
This year we saw a great range of schools, organisations and companies, (including Go ON UK Founders) joining this call out. The BBC ran the Share Take Care campaign supporting SID, and involving BBC Breakfast, CBBC and Radio 1, and the Post Office showed SID video clips in branches across the country.
Yesterday we also published a survey which captured the views of over 24,000 children, aged from 7-19, on the issue of their online rights and responsibilities. In the charter of 10 rights and responsibilities that the young people drew up, both primary and secondary aged children chose the right to feel safe online as their top right. Safety was clearly important to them, as was being taught how to stay safe online, and they recognised they had a responsibility to look after their friends online. Do have a look at the report, and hear what young people have to say about managing their privacy, reporting, their online responsibilities to themselves and their friends, the importance of the supportive role of parents, and much, much more at www.saferinternet.org.uk.
Safer Internet Day 2013 may be over, but we all have a role in supporting children online, and making sure that they have the skills and the tools to use technology safely. See what you could do at http://www.saferinternet.org.uk/