Safer Internet Day 2019

SAFER INTERNET DAY 2019

Safer Internet Day will be marked on Tuesday, February 5 with the theme of together for a better internet. In 2018, the day was the biggest ever, featuring a greater number of organisations promoting the use of digital technology in a more responsible, respectful, critical and creative way.

Safer Internet Day 2019 will be supported by almost 1,000 groups and organisations across the country including schools, colleges, libraries, businesses, government bodies and police forces aims to promote a safer, securer and more positive use of digital technology for children and young people. The day forms part of a global digital-safe campaign which is coordinated passionately in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre.

The coordinator, UK Safer Internet Centre is a partnership of three leading charities – Childnet International, Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and the South West Grid for Learning (SWGfL) – with a shared mission to make the internet a better place for children and young people. Globally, Safer Internet Day is marked annually in more than 100 countries supported by worldwide national safer internet centres.

Safer Internet Day comes at a time when internet usage is a hot topic, in 2019, children and young people are growing up in a world where technology has always been present for them and this can have both a positive and negative impact on their lives. The internet can mean being connected to friends, sharing experiences and learning new things but all of these experiences can also pose challenges.

With the online world being such a huge part of young people’s lives today – for both leisure and learning – it is important that they receive the help needed to understand how to use it safely, sensibly and with an awareness of how it can impact on them. For some parents, grandparents and carers, the internet is still a great unknown – organisers of Safer Internet Day provide information to help educate all.

The Safer Internet Day campaign encourages children and young people to explore how the internet works, who owns the information that is shared on it, and how they can actively take ownership of digital spaces. Organisers want to see Safer Internet Day empower children and young people take control of their online lives and activites, and to feel that they can harness and use the power of the internet for good.

Making The Internet
A Safer Place

For more information about Safer Internet Day 2019, including education packs for schools, colleges, libraries and youth groups, see:
www.saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day
Keep an eye out on social media for the use of the hashtag, #SID2019 for local events.

Venturing Into
Unsafe Websites

According to research from domain and cyber threat intelligence firm, DomainTools, 77% of security professionals believe it would be very easy for children to find themselves on an unscrupulous website.
The research project also found that 47% of those who responded to a survey knew a child aged 11
or younger who uses the internet unsupervised. This is alarming when using domain research found
Ben 10, Peppa Pig and Mickey Mouse’s Clubhouse were linked to domains used for malicious purposes.