As original members of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS), Childnet were pleased to take part in the UKCCIS Summit and to contribute to the launch of the first UK Child Internet Safety Strategy.
The Summit highlighted the important role that Childnet has to play in helping keep children safe online and communicating vital safety advice to parents and teachers. Childnet worked with the UKCISS Secretariat to ensure that children and young people were kept at the heart of the discussions at the Summit.
Alex, 12, a young gamer from Liverpool was interviewed by Childnet in the session on video games, and he spoke about his experiences of gaming. He revealed how playing games had helped him with some of his school work and shared some of his safety tips. His key message was aimed at parents and teachers and he encouraged them to engage with the safety features that exist on video games and to think about how games can be used positively.
Childnet were proud to introduce the ‘Only a Game’ drama, designed for primary aged pupils which was performed in the plenary session at the Summit. The stimulating drama, focusing on online gaming and ways young people can stay safe whilst using these interactive technologies, was performed by a group of primary aged children from Wallington. This was a stand-out highlight of the day and contributed to keeping young people at the heart of the event.
Childnet’s Becky Nancarrow-Rayner who wrote and directed the drama said,
“It has been a true inspiration and an absolute pleasure working with these young people. Over the last few weeks they have dedicated their free time to explore safety issues, create their own costumes and rehearse their own interpretation of the play. They clearly thought about the key messages they wanted to covey and on the day, delivered a thoughtful and engaging performance.”
CEO Will Garder said,
“It was fantastic to see children and young people included in the UKCCIS Summit, particularly Alex’s contribution in the gaming session and the fantastic ‘Only a Game’ drama. Childnet is pleased to have worked with the UKCCIS Secretariat over the past year in producing new advice for staying safe on the Internet for primary aged school children and teachers, parents and also advice on social networking. The new “Zip it, Block it, Flag it” campaign from UKCCIS, intending to encourage children to not give out personal information on the web, block unwanted messages on social networks and report any inappropriate behaviour to the appropriate bodies, is consistent with Childnet’s long established SMART rules and Childnet will continue to work with the UKCCIS to continue to ensure that children and young people are equipped with the right safety messages and tools to enable them to get the most out of the Internet.”
The Only a game drama can be viewed at Childnet’s KidSmart website at: www.kidsmart.org.uk
