Safer Internet Day: Young people encouraged to ask if it’s ‘too good to be true’ when online

This year’s theme is ‘Too good to be true?’, and Warwickshire County Council’s Community Safety Team, in conjunction with Safer Warwickshire partners and Child Friendly Warwickshire, have produced a short, animated film featuring the character ‘Safer Internet Bear’ to encourage younger children to take care when on the internet.

‘Safer Internet Bear’ also encourages children to be kind and respectful when online and suggests alternative, offline activities they could do instead.

It is hoped that schools, parents and carers will share the video with children and that it will prompt discussions about the changes that young people would like to see to help protect themselves online.

A poetry competition for primary school pupils has also been launched, with children invited to write a poem about staying safe online and being friendly and kind in all they do, with the theme of ‘too good to be true?’.

The winner will have an animated video of their poem made and shared online by Warwickshire County Council, Safe In Warwickshire and Child Friendly Warwickshire.   

Older children and young people are being encouraged to protect themselves and others from online scams and to discover what support is available to them.

Coordinated nationally by the UK Safer Internet Centre, this year’s focus is on issues such as online financial sextortion and the future of scams, and how to tackle these problems.

Safer Internet Day is the UK’s biggest celebration of online safety and is themed around the things that young people are seeing and experiencing online.

Councillor Andy Crump, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Community Safety and Chair of the Safer Warwickshire Partnership Board, said:

“As a child-friendly county, Warwickshire County Council and Safer Warwickshire partners are committed to creating safe environments where young people feel secure and protected from harm.

“Online safety is an important part of keeping children and young people safe, and Warwickshire schools are working with parents and carers to teach young people how to be safe and behave appropriately online.

“It’s also important that parents and carers take an active interest in their children’s online lives and show a willingness to engage in the digital world with them.”

With that in mind, some GOLDEN rules for parents and carers are:

Ground advice: Discuss and agree as a family how the internet will be used in your home. Let your children tell you what they think is and isn’t acceptable for them to do online, such as not being nasty to people, keeping personal information private and speaking to an adult when they are worried. Then add your own rules such as how long they can spend online and when and where webcams can be used.

Online safety: Make sure you apply parental controls to all internet enabled devices in your household, including tablets, phones and games consoles. They can restrict access to inappropriate content and can help you manage how much time your child spends online.

Listen: Take an active interest in your child’s online life and talk openly with them about the things they do. Talk to you child about which websites and apps they like to use and why; engage in their online world with them.

Dialogue: Make sure your child knows they can come to you for help if something happens online that makes them feel scared, worried or uncomfortable. Many children won’t disclose online worries because they are scared adults will blame them or remove their access to the internet.

The UK Safer Internet Centre also have a library of resources for 3 to 18 year olds which are free to download.

Watch the Safer Internet Bear video at https://youtu.be/g0P4RaVAb2A. For more information and advice, visit www.safeinwarwickshire.com and www.childfriendlywarwickshire.co.uk.