How to celebrate Safer Internet Day? 

Spark a conversation with children and teens about, consent cyberbullying and more

Let’s start with consent. You could define what it is in simple terms and give an example of a situation. For kids, you could describe a situation where a secret gets leaked outside of an agreed social circle. For teens, you may want to bring up how the use of private images shown to the person it was not meant for. Then you could explain that these sorts of actions can cause distress and usually lead to a feeling of abandonment and exclusion.  

From that, you may want to lead the conversation into a cyberbullying topic, giving similar examples but developing the consequences: how a secret can hurt someone else or end up being the cause of bullying. In another case, the person whose private images got leaked gets bullied for taking them in the first place. You could highlight here that one should never send a private picture (featuring their face or showing nudity) to someone they do not trust or know. You can find more examples at Webwise: lockers. 

Spread awareness and the importance of the day with other parents

It may be useful to host a parent's event (on or offline), presenting the idea of speaking with kids at school and home about the importance of staying safe online and practising ways to talk about it. Such events usually take place in public schools or libraries, you can find more info on the Webwise website, Yubo Website: more about safer internet day and the British Council website: helping teenagers stay safe online. There are plenty more resources available for educator facilities, so it may be worth asking at your local school and/or library. 

In the so gentle period of transitioning from a child to a pre-teen and then a teen, we may not always think of the consequences of our actions, or we might not give our words too much thought before saying them. We have all been through it, but it is our duty as adults to help guide the young generation whenever they allow us. It is vital that your child or a younger family member is comfortable having this conversation with you. If you think they might not be, try to find a cause for that and/or ask someone you trust to have that conversation with them instead.

Let’s start with consent. You could define what it is in simple terms and give an example of a situation. For kids, you could describe a situation where a secret gets leaked outside of an agreed social circle. For teens, you may want to bring up how the use of private images shown to the person it was not meant for. Then you could explain that these sorts of actions can cause distress and usually lead to a feeling of abandonment and exclusion.  

From that, you may want to lead the conversation into a cyberbullying topic, giving similar examples but developing the consequences: how a secret can hurt someone else or end up being the cause of bullying. In another case, the person whose private images got leaked gets bullied for taking them in the first place. You could highlight here that one should never send a private picture (featuring their face or showing nudity) to someone they do not trust or know.

Is World Safer Internet Day just for youngsters?