Safer Internet Day, play your part

Schools across the UK gear up for Safer Internet Day 2016 on 9 February

Joe Lawson-West

Coordinated in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre, the day is a great opportunity for teachers to engage with young people and their parents and carers about safe and positive use of technology and encourage them to play their part to create a better internet.

Each year hundreds of primary and secondary schools get involved in the day, running activities in the classroom, putting on assemblies, holding parent sessions or getting involved in the Safer Internet Day social media campaign. As a result, last year, Safer Internet Day 2015 reached 25% of 11-16s, with a third of those going on to change their behaviour – an incredible figure for a one-day campaign!

Over 200 schools have already joined the official supporters list for Safer Internet Day 2016, and it looks set to be the biggest Safer Internet Day yet.

To help schools and youth groups deliver activities for children, young people and parents and carers on Safer Internet Day 2016 the UK Safer Internet Centre has developed Safer Internet Day education packs.

The theme for Safer Internet Day 2016 is ‘Play your part for a better internet’ and provides an opportunity for schools to explore the responsibility we all have to help create a kinder online community.

The Safer Internet Day education packs aim to empower young people to celebrate diversity online in order to inspire a kind, respectful and inclusive internet, and help raise awareness about the issue of online hate and cyberbullying to ensure no child is ever targeted online for being different. This is explored through posters, assembly presentations with scripts, drama activities, quick activities, full lesson plans and even films!

To help teachers get involved the UK Safer Internet Centre has some ideas about how you can use the packs to run activities on Safer Internet Day:

In the classroom, teachers can use the UK Safer Internet Centre’s primary school lesson plan to get pupils to create their own set of Digital Rights which they believe could make the internet a better place.
New this year, the whole-school activities for primary and secondary are a great way to get everyone involved in Safer Internet Day. This includes our #shareaheart social media campaign, a positive commenting activity and ideas for a question wall.
For quick activities teachers can use the SID TV videos to think about how we communicate online. For primary, the Smartie the Penguin video can be used to teach young people what to do if they get a mean comment online and how we can all be a good friend to others. For secondary, the real-life stories and expert perspectives can be used to think about and the impact of how we communicate online and how to deal with negative comments or cyberbullying.
Assemblies in the week of February 9th could focus on how we all have a role to play to make the internet a better place. Use the ready-to-go assembly and script for secondary schools and primary schools, including a poem that celebrates difference online – or why not support pupils to deliver their own assemblies?
Why not display the Safer Internet Day poster in your primary school or secondary school?
Reach out to parents and carers using the Safer Internet Day parent pack, which includes a template letter, resources and a ready-to-use presentation.