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Childnet launch the 7th Childnet Film Competition

E-safety charity, Childnet, have launched the 7th Childnet Film Competition to encourage young people aged 7-18 to create a short film to educate their peers about staying safe online.

With the aim of celebrating the positive things that young people are doing online, the competition showcases young people’s creativity and their understanding of online safety issues.

As Becky Nancarrow, Education Projects Officer at Childnet said, "we know that young people are powerful agents in creating a better internet and inspiring other young people to use the internet for good. The Childnet Film Competition is a great way for schools to inspire young people to take the lead in educating their peers about staying safe online whilst equipping them with the skills they need to become confident digital creators.”

This year’s theme is all about how we can all make a positive difference online by supporting young people to ‘shine online’.

Primary aged young people (7 – 11) are invited to create a 60 second film in response to the theme: 'Shine Online' - Tell us how you're using the internet positively

Secondary aged young people (11 – 18) are invited to create a 2 minute film in response to the theme: ‘Shine Online’ – How can you make a positive difference online?

For both age groups Childnet are looking for creative, imaginative films which reflect a positive and inspiring message. Young people might express their ideas through comedy, animation or music. Or how about creating an advert, campaign or documentary? The top three films in each category will be invited to a private screening at the BFI in London and the winners will be awarded film kits for their school.

To inspire young people to help others stay safe online, schools are being encouraged to share their film competition stories on social media using the hashtag #shineonline. Whether this is a message about what you’re up to, a picture from the creative process or even and a tip from the young film makers, schools can share their updates with @Childnet.

Important dates:
1. Competition closes Monday 13th June 2016
2. Finalists notified Monday 20th June 2016
3. Screening and finalist’s event at the BFI Monday 18th July 2016

To enter the Childnet Film Competition please send an email to film@childnet.com to request an information pack.

If you would like any more information, or find out more and download the schools packs visit Childnet.com

If you would like to register a group of talented young people you know, then please send an email to film@childnet.com. Don't forget, the closing date for entries is Monday 13th June 2016 at 5pm.

The Breck Foundation are proud to announce their new challenge - No Tech 4 Breck Day

The Breck Foundaton have launched this awareness fundraiser to help promote safe and moderate use of technology by young and old people alike.

In today’s world, so much of what we do online not only offers opportunities and helps us to be efficient and communicate more readily, but overuse can also cause loss of quality free time, relaxation, sound sleep and used without education and caution can become a danger.

In their efforts to raise awareness of the very real dangers our young people face online every day from online bullies and predators, the Breck Foundation hope to see family and friends together have a day off technology between 9th February (Safer Internet Day) and 17th March, which would have been Breck’s 17th birthday.

They are encouraging everyone to find ways to enjoy each other without the gadgets in our hands. Make plans the day before to meet up, go for a walk, cook a meal or bake a cake together or just play board games or playing cards. Spend time ‘being’ and just being together.

The Breck Foundation was formed to share awareness of the dangers of online predators who may bully, groom or sexually exploit our children online through lies, manipulation and control. The predator can say anything and be anyone behind a screen which can lead to a false sense of security. A predator will spend months or years befriending young people online until they are able to convince a child to do something they wouldn’t normally do.

This can happen to boy and girls, young and old, rich or poor, happy or sad, and anywhere in between. A predator will stop at nothing to get to the child they want. The Breck Foundation are striving to bring about awareness so that everyone from teachers, police, social workers, health professionals, parents and children are educated and empowered to make the right choices to stay safer online.

The Breck Foundation is raising awareness for playing safe whilst using the internet. Breck Bednar was a 14 year old boy, from Caterham, Surrey, who loved technology and on-line gaming. He was groomed via the internet and sadly murdered on February 17th 2014 by someone he met on-line. This foundation has been set up in his memory to help other young people to enjoy playing on-line but to be aware of some simple rules to stay safe. Remembering that the friends you make on-line are not like your real friends. “Play Virtual/Live Real”.​

If you would like to be involved in No Tech 4 Breck day, you can download a sponsor form here

With the explosion of technology and accessibility the importance of digital safety is clear for all… however what are the skills kids need to prepare them for the exciting world ahead and when should we start introducing them?

Traditional online safety has focused on high schools, however as parents of even nursery age children will say (myself included) their kids can be proficient in using iPads. That’s why we believe in giving kids the skills before they engage with the technology is a far more effective way of delivering real sustainable change and impact.

The key to engaging children in online safety is to trust them.

So what are three essential digital safety skills children need to develop to prepare them for life?

There’s a long list of smaller practical elements including copyright and plagiarism, however my headline skills would be:
1. Assessing risk - It’s important kids can identify what risk factors are and how to respond to each, irrespective of the platform or device
2. Know what to disclose - There are plenty of examples when it’s okay to share certain information and keep others back
3. Develop digital self awareness - From digital footprints, to use of capitals and profile photos, an appreciation of your digital persona is essential for understanding how the world interprets you and your actions. As adults we have grown up with social networks and the internet, however we expect children to be fully competent in these areas, without giving them the opportunity to experience them in a safe way.

The power of peer mentoring
Teams of eCadets in primary schools across the UK have an inspiring impact in embedding key online safety learning because they lead on the subject across their whole school community.

They do this through being a focal point for other pupils to chat with about all aspects of online life, as well as delivering class inputs on a wide range of curriculum-linked areas.

So should children just experience online safety through IT classes? No there's great examples of coordinators in arts and craft empowering the children to make their own robots to illustrate computers we use. In early years the learning can come through colouring competitions to learn what computers are through to digital footprints. Pupils can even create audio clips to explain what a digital footprint is - here is one created by a Mini eCadet.

As digital safety grows and evolves it’s important schools have three pieces to the jigsaw in place to ensure they are getting the maximum impact – training for teachers, technical resilience (filters) and empowering the pupils. Together these three components provide a safe nurturing environment to help the future generations of digital pioneers get the most from the learning opportunities to prepare them for life.

We would like to thank our new partner and guest blogger, Henry Platten from eCadets, for his thoughts on this topic. To find out more about Henry and eCadets, click here.