Safer Internet Day is celebrated around the world every February and has become a landmark event in the online safety calendar. In Ireland, a impressive range of activities took place across the country to celebrate the occurrence. Safer Internet Day worked as an opportunity to address topics such as cyberbullying, sharing images online, online privacy, misinformation, online well-being and digital resilience, and inspired a national conversation about empowering people to use the internet and digital technologies in a safe, responsible and positive way.

Safer Internet Day initiatives in Ireland included lessons, webinars, workshops, making movies and podcasts, writing and performing songs, creating posters, coding, quizzes, presentations and much more, uniting thousands of people across Ireland to help create a safer and better internet.

The #TalkListenLearn campaign

For Safer Internet Day 2022, Webwise and the National Parents Council Primary launched the #TalkListenLearn campaign to support children and parents and carers in their online experiences.

The campaign raises awareness of the importance for families to have regular open conversations about the online world, to help ensure that children and teenagers have a safe and positive experience.

A special Safer Internet Day event from PDST Technology in Education included an expert panel discussion to explore and unpack emerging themes from recent research from the National Advisory Council for Online Safety, which highlighted a gap in perception between children and their carers regarding how young people interact with the online environment, the nature of their experiences (both positive and negative), and the nature and prevalence of parental mediation of children’s interaction with the online environment.

Moderated by Gavan Reilly (Virgin Media news political correspondent), the event included contributions from the CEO of the National Parents Council Primary Áine Lynch, researcher and deputy chair of the National Advisory Council for Online Safety Professor Brian O’Neill, child and adolescent psychoanalytical psychotherapist Dr. Colman Noctor and members of the Webwise youth advisory panel. The discussion also offered potential solutions and recommendations for further exploration.

You can rewatch the event below. 

The #TalkListenLearn topic generator

The #TalkListenLearn campaign is also supported by a range of resources including the #TalkListenLearn topic generator.

The topic generator has been developed to help families have conversations about their online experiences in a fun, non-judgemental way. The new tool provides children and their parents and carers with broad questions about the online world to help them discuss the opportunities it provides, the challenges they may have encountered, and how to seek for support. 

#TalkListenLearn Talking Points handbook for parents

Nobody has a better understanding of the online world of children and teenagers than young people themselves. For this reason, 35 members of the youth panel have created a handbook of talking points for parents and carers, based on their own online experiences and in consultation with over 140 students from across Ireland. The handbook is aimed to help parents and carers approach the conversation in a way that will encourage their child to open up about their life online.

Additionally, more resources and tookits designed for parents and carers such as the updated online safety booklet  “A parents’ guide to a better internet” including information on emerging topics such as the influence of online algorithms, misinformation, and developing critical thinking skills are available on the #TalkListenLearn campaign page. 

 Online safety webinar for parents and carers

As part of the  #TalkListenLearn campaign, an online safety webinar featured Dr. Colman Noctor (child and adolescent psychoanalytical psychotherapist), who discussed online opportunities and risks for teenagers , offered practical advice to support parents and carers, and answers some frequently asked questions. In addition, the TikTok safety team also provided a short explainer on how TikTok works and some key safety features. Lastly, Webwise provided an overview of the free resources and support available for parents and carers.

The #TalkListenLearn campaign on TikTok

High profile TikTokers Boni Odoemene, Mammy Banter, and TeachwithTadgh made TikTok videos to raise awareness of the #TalkListenLearn key messages, and to highlight the resources available. Check out all #TalkListenLearn-related content, and the Webwise TikTok account.

Safer Internet Day (SID) Ambassador programme 

140 students from schools across Ireland took part in this year’s Webwise SID Ambassador programme. This year, the training programme took place online once again, and over the course of five training sessions the peer-led programme equipped students with the skills and knowledge necessary to lead their own online safety campaigns in their schools and local communities.

The students got involved in the programme because they wanted to address online safety topics and issues among their peers, and to take positive actions to make a difference.

The young people led an incredible range of inventive online safety and digital literacy initiatives to address topics such as cyberbullying, big data, false information, sharing images and online consent and privacy to raise awareness and support their peers, as well as parents or carers, and the wider community.

The Webwise youth panel and the SID Ambassadors also participated in several other initiatives.  The Our Digital Lives guest panel discussion, for example, was an event organised by young people, for young people. They hosted and guided the discussions at the Safer Internet Day event, which looked at the positive and the negative aspects of the digital world, with high-profile guests including TikTok celebrity Miriam Mullins, Dublin GAA player Shane Carthy, and psychology researcher and consent, sexual health educator Dr. Elaine Byrnes. Our Digital Lives was made available for post-primary schools to view as part of their Safer Internet Day activities.

 Safer Internet Day events around Ireland

This year marked the largest Safer Internet Day celebration ever in Ireland, with schools, clubs and organisations from all over the country registering events and activities for SID and with the participation of over 180,000 people.

The initiatives addressed important online safety topics such as cyberbullying and respectful communication, online privacy, online reputation and digital footprints, online well-being and digital resilience, image-sharing and consent, and involved a great amount of effort and creativity in the planning and hosting of hundreds of events around the country. Here are some examples from schools:

• St. Angela’s National School, Co. Mayo. Pupils learnt about staying safe online, welcomed the Gardaí for a chat and the Year 3 class created a poem with tips about how to stay safe online.
• Skerries Community College, Co. Dublin. For Safer Internet Day, coding students created games about internet safety. There was also a takeover of the school social media accounts to share digital safety facts and tips, a poster competition to raise awareness and a virtual information session for parents.
• Clonlara National School, Co. Clare. Using the HTML Heroes programme, students learnt about how to be safe and responsible online.
• Presentation Secondary School Waterford. Lots of activities took place for Safer Internet Day: the launch of a new Digital Charter, a talk from Gardai, learning more about Coco’s Law and chatting to Jackie Fox.

Visit the Webwise website for more pictures of events organised all over Ireland for Safer Internet Day 2022.

Safer Internet Day supporters 

This year, more organisations than ever supported Safer Internet Day and played a role in creating a better and safer internet for all users, and especially for children and young people.

Media Literacy Ireland, Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA), Learning Waves Skillnet, National Youth Council of Ireland, Gaelic Players Association, Pieta House, Microsoft Education Ireland and TikTok were among the many organisations who supported Safer Internet Day in Ireland and encouraged people to join in the celebrations.

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