Better Internet for Kids

In Ireland, almost 180,000 people took part in events, activities, and campaigns to highlight Safer Internet Day 2020. The organisations and schools that registered their events can be viewed on the interactive map on the Webwise Safer Internet Day Hub: www.webwise.ie/saferinternetday

Here is a small snapshot of some of the activities that took place across the country.

This Safer Internet Day PowerPoint Presentations aims to provide context to the aim and purpose of Safer Internet Day; an EU wide initiative to promote a safer internet for all users, especially young people. The presentation can be delivered by school leaders or teachers at a whole school assembly. It includes some warmer activities that can be used with young people to introduce them to the topic of online safety. Additional optional activities will be available for teachers to adapt this presentation to suit delivery during class time.

This Safer Internet Day PowerPoint Presentations aims to provide context to the aim and purpose of Safer Internet Day; an EU wide initiative to promote a safer internet for all users, especially young people. The presentation can be delivered by school leaders or teachers at a whole school assembly. It includes some warmer activities that can be used with young people to introduce them to the topic of online safety. Additional optional activities will be available for teachers to adapt this presentation to suit delivery during class time.

On the 15th of January, Webwise hosted the Safer Internet Day Ambassador Training Day in Google HQ. Over 100 students from across Ireland gathered together to learn new skills and activities to help them plan and prepare for running their own internet safety awareness raising campaign in their school, clubs or organisations. The aim is to make Safer Internet Day a success in communities and schools across Ireland.

These resources were created by Childnet, a UK Safer Internet Centre partner, during lockdown in April 2020. Since the team couldn't deliver sessions directly to children, they created these easy-to-follow videos that parents and carers can do at home with their children.

What are the interactive video lessons?

Being online is now an integral part of teenage life, and the opportunities the internet offers provides young people with many positive benefits. However, just like in the offline world, life online also comes with its share of ups and downs.

The Full Picture is a short film exploring how young people use social media to connect and share. The film highlights the influences and pressures young people face online and encourages them to see the full picture. Social media helps us share our lives but it does not tell the whole story. The campaign encourages young people to be mindful of what influences them and how they respond to pressures online.

For support and advice visit: webwise.ie/thefullpicture

Plans help to develop a more systematic media education and to make future actions and needs more predictable. It is possible to include media education in current plans or design a totally new one. KAVI has created a guide to start this process. The guide consists of questions that help to figure out what kind of aspects should be considered while planning the development of media literacy.

The teaching material is aimed at pupils from the fifth grade upwards and comprises ten teaching units in which children and young people learn a critical and responsible use of the Internet. The units are based on ten selected videos from ZDFtivi's "App+on" offer (ZDFtivi is the children and youth programme of the public broadcaster ZDF). Among other things, these deal with false beauty ideals on Instagram, the dangers of fake news or the repetition of gender clichés in online profiles.

Media Education is an important part of actions also in libraries. National Audiovisual Institute (KAVI) organised a communication campaign for the general libraries in Finland. Articles shared for the library staff and general public were also collected in one publication mailed to all libraries. This brochure is in Finnish but the main aspects of the campaign can be found in English from the public BIK portal.