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This competition is open to schools and youth organisations in the UK and schools overseas. You do not have to be a member of E-safety Support to enter.

Entries must be received by midnight on 8th February 2016 to be entered into the competition.

Each E-safety Tip must be a maximum 140 characters and include the hashtag #esstips to be valid.

By submitting an entry, you agree for the 'tip' to be used on the E-safety Support website as well as on social media platforms. Your school name (but no names of staff of pupils) may also be included on these platforms.

There are 3 categories, Best Primary School Tip, Best Secondary School Tip, Best Tip from an Overseas School.

A winner will be chosen from each category and announced on 9th February 2016 - Safer Internet Day. If you are a winner, we will endeavour to contact you by phone and email on the same day prior to announcement. However, if we are unable to contact you, we will still announce the winning entries on the 9th February.

If you are chosen as a winner, you will be given 1 years free Premium Plus membership to E-safety Support for your school. If you are already a member, the free year will be added to the end of your current membership period. Alternatively, you may choose to nominate another school to receive your prize.

Winners will Each of the UK category winners will also receive a 100 device licence for their school for a year from our partners at Point2Protect. WInners will be contected directly by Point2Protect with details of their prize.

For winner’s details please send an email to: competition@e-safetysupport.com within 28 days of the draw date.

By entering the free prize draw, entrants agree to be bound by the rules and by any other requirements set out in promotional material.

Encourage pupils to play their part for a better internet with our 'E-safety Tips' Competition

The next ‘Safer Internet Day’ will be the thirteenth edition of the event and will take place worldwide on Tuesday 9th February 2016. The theme for 'Safer Internet Day 2016' will be 'Play your part for a better internet'.

The day will give us the opportunity to think about the positive uses of technology and the role we can all play to create a better internet. “The theme encourages us to consider what we do online, the way we behave and communicate and how we should always endeavour to be positive and post positive content.

SID 2016 Competion

To celebrate the fantastic work being done through Safer Internet Day activities around the world, we are delighted to be running a competition for schools. To get involved, all your pupils have to do is come up with a positive e-safety tip that can be tweeted during the run-up to and during ‘Safer Internet Day’.

Entries must be a maximum of 140 characters and include the hashtag #esstips

To submit your school entries:

1) Simply Tweet your entries including the hashtag #esstips from your school Twitter account,
or
2) Submit your entries by email to competition@e-safetysupport.com

Entry is open now and schools can enter as many tips as they wish. All entries must be received before midnight on February 8th 2016 to be included in the competition. Please see the competition terms here.

Winners

There will be 3 categories, Best Primary School Tip, Best Secondary School Tip, Best Tip from an Overseas School. Winners will be chosen and announced on Safer Internet Day. Winners will receive one years free Premium Plus membership to E-safety Support for their school.

We are delighted that our partners at Point2Protect have also provided prizes for our winners. Each of the UK category winners will receive a 100 device licence for their school for a year

Entries

The entries have been coming in think and fast.

To see the entries we have received so far, click here.

New survey by Internet Matters reveals how parents of 8-11 year olds want minimum age enforced for smartphone ownership

Internet Matters this week launched its ‘Back to School’ survey which reveals the majority of parents (84.6%) would like a minimum age for smartphone ownership in the UK - with age 10 being the most popular minimum age. With millions of children back to school this week, the new research shows that over half (65%) of 8-11 year olds own a smartphone and nearly a quarter (23%) of parents let their children take their phone to school. The survey is complimented by a Back to School e-safety advertising campaign and a new online safety guide by Internet Matters which helps parents keep their children safe online.

Carolyn Bunting, General Manager at Internet Matters, commented: ‘With such a huge amount of young people owning smartphones and the acceptable age of doing so being 10, parents need to be more aware than ever of what their children are doing online. That’s why we have launched our brand new online safety guide, so that parents remember these safety precautions in their back to school shopping list for their children.”

On the anniversary of changes to the National Curriculum in England, which made e-safety a compulsory topic for primary schools, the ‘Back to School’ survey shows parents believe the responsibility lies with them and schools to ensure their kids are safe online. Whilst nearly three quarters of parents (72%) said their primary school teaches their children e-safety, 67% of parents think it’s up to them to keep their kid’s safe online but 90% think schools could do more. Whilst mobile technology brings enormous benefits to young people, the majority of parents (82%) would prefer that mobile phones were not allowed in primary school.

The research highlighted huge regional variations of smartphone usage among children with Newcastle revealed to be the kids “smartphone capital of Britain” - with 90.5% of primary school children aged 8-11 owning one, compared to Manchester (65%), Birmingham (61%) and London (55%). Brighton and Hove came bottom of the table with 40%.

Child psychotherapist Catherine Knibbs commented: “It is no surprise that 10 appears to be the most popular age parents feel comfortable letting their children own a smartphone as this is the age that children move from a more simplistic view of the world to being more independent, think in a more complex way, and show the ability to understand the consequences of their actions. This adult-like behaviour in children makes parents feel more comfortable that their children are grown up enough to own a smartphone, but it’s a tough decision as parents need to balance this new found freedom with a level of supervision and boundary setting to ensure safe internet usage.”

Bunting, further commented: “Every parent agonises over that all-important decision of when to give their children a mobile phone. Whether it’s peer pressure, a sign of maturity, or out of peace of mind, every child is different and parents know intuitively what the right age is for their child. Giving children this great tool comes with responsibilities both for parents and children. We would urge parents to ensure they have the conversation with their children about how to be responsible on their phones and ensure that the safety settings are in place across all their devices and search engines.”

For more information on Internet Matters Back to School campaign please visit www.internetmatters.org.