#BeKindOnline webinar series

To mark Safer Internet Day, the Irish Safer Internet Centre hosted the #BeKindOnline webinar series. This series offered free webinars for parents and teachers to empower healthier online behaviour in children and young people. The webinar series was officially launched on Safer Internet Day by Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee TD, and was hosted online by the Department of Justice.

Chaired by Professor Brian O’Neill (member of the National Advisory Council for Online Safety), the launch day also included a panel discussion with the Irish Safer Internet Centre partners, including Chief Executive of ISPCC Childline, John Church; CEO of the National Parents Council Primary, Áine Lynch; Project Officer of Webwise (PDST Technology in Education), Jane McGarrigle; and Chief Executive of Hotline.ie, Ana Niculesc.

Following the launch, a series of evening webinars took place across the week. A session for teachers focused on empowering students to build digital resilience and manage their online well-being, while sessions for parents focused on empowering healthy online behaviour in both younger children and teenagers. 

The #BeKindOnline Webinar series was hosted by the Irish Safer Internet Centre (SIC). The Irish SIC is a partnership of four leading organisations with a mission to make the Internet a better place for children and young people, under the coordination of Cybercrime, Department of Justice. The programme partners include:

• Awareness and education: Webwise (PDST Technology in Education)
• Helplines: ISPCC Childline and the National Parents Council Primary
• Hotline: Hotline.ie

Safer Internet Day Online well-being guest panel discussion

For Safer Internet Day, Webwise broadcast a short webinar for post-primary students reflecting on the role technology has played in our lives this year and to explore ways to help students manage their online well-being. The event provided an opportunity to hear about the experiences of figures from the world of entertainment, sport, cyberpsychology and the tech industry. 

The guest panel event marked the final webinar of the Webwise Safer Internet Day Ambassador Youth Training Programme. In the weeks leading up to this event, over 100 students from across Ireland had been engaged in an online peer-led training programme. The aim of the training programme was to provide the students with the knowledge, skills and confidence to go back to their own schools/communities and lead an online safety campaign/initiative for Safer Internet Day on 9 February 2021. This programme is also supported by 35 members of the Webwise Youth Advisory Panel, who act as peer mentors to the Ambassadors over the course of the programme. This year the training programme focused on helping students manage their online well-being and the event allowed students to reflect on learnings over the course of the programme.

Schools celebrate Safer Internet Day

Hundreds of primary and post-primary schools across Ireland ran activities and events to mark Safer Internet Day 2021. The wide-ranging initiatives included online well-being webinars, positivity campaigns for online image, motivational tips for distance learning, digital footprint lessons, online safety talks for parents, and workshops to address topics such as online harassment, privacy and image sharing.

• Presentation Secondary School, Waterford – “We will hold a virtual coffee morning with teachers, Kahoot quizzes with students, poster competition for junior/senior students, and slideshows are being sent to parents with information on how to create a safer online environment.”
• Ballinode Community College, Sligo – “We will design a poster and a book about ways to stop cyberbullying.”
• Youthreach Clondalkin – “Whole centre approach to integrating safer internet activities and fun activities through online classes.”
• Holy Cross Mercy School, Kerry – “Webinar for parents, Zoom workshops for students from junior infants to 6th class, design an internet safety poster, and our internet safety song.”
• Killeigh National School, Mayo – “Senior classes will learn about false information and how to spot it. Middle classes will learn about not sharing personal information. Infants will learn about the need to take a break. We will publish advice for parents.”

Organisations take action for Safer Internet Day

Trend Micro launched the annual “What’s your story?” video competition for young people. The theme this year is “How did the internet help you get through this past year?”, and it encourages young people to create a two-minute video to outline how the internet has helped them get through these difficult times. More information and details about how to enter can be found here.

In addition, the Department of Justice has awarded funding to establish a new research observatory on cyberbullying at the National Anti-Bullying Research and Resource Centre in Dublin City University (DCU). The announcement was made by the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee TD, to mark Safer Internet Day and the commencement of Coco’s Law – the Harassments, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill.

Find out more about Safer Internet Day in Ireland. Alternatively, find out more about the work of the Irish Safer Internet Centre, including their awareness raising, helpline, hotline and youth participation services – or find similar information for Safer Internet Centres throughout Europe.