Whilst every day on the internet is a good day to be kind, tomorrow Friday 12th June is a dedicated day for just that!
It’s Kindness Day, organised by Anti-bullying Pro, in partnership with Penguin Random House.
Anti-bullying Pro say, ‘We are proud to announce that we have partnered with Penguin Random House on an exciting international project to inspire adults and children around the world to celebrate and spread kindness in their schools, workplaces and communities.’
Kindness Day has been inspired by R J Palacio’s bestselling novel Wonder, a story of kindness, acceptance and friendship. Here at Childnet International, we have our own story of friendship and kindness: Digiduck’s Big Decision. Help arrives just in time for Digiduck when he finds himself in a rather tricky situation! He has a big choice to make, but taking the ‘funny’ route might not be the best option. Throughout the story he is able to discover the best way to behave online and help his friends to enjoy themselves.
Digiduck’s Big Decision is a collection of resources, available in different forms. The collection has been created to help parents and teachers educate young children about how to be a good friend online. The collection now includes a printed book (available to order), a free PDF and online ebook, and an interactive app.
Safer Internet Day 2015 also focused on what children, families, schools and communities could do to help make the internet a better place for all. The UK Safer Internet Centre launched a wonderful #Up2us film on the day. The film involved over 150 school children and gives so many suggestions for how young people can help to make the internet kinder, more fun and a safer place to be. In addition to the film, the Share a smile campaign was a great success, and Kindness Day 2015 is a great opportunity to fill the internet again with smiles.
So what else could you do to celebrate Kindness Day 2015? Why not carry out an online act of kindness and encourage your friends to do the same? You could…
- Upload a fun photo of you and your friends (with your friends’ permission)
- Compliment someone
- Teach someone how to do something new on the internet
- Share a positive video that you have found
- Send a far away friend an email
- Test the power of the internet to spread a viral message! Write a positive message and see how quickly, and far, it can travel.
In need of some more inspiration then check out the winning film from the Childnet Film Competition 2013 where Kell Bank School tell us why ‘the internet is great, when you respect your mates’.
