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The Youth Commission for Guernsey and Alderney has launched a new partnership with Airtel-Vodafone to provide online safety lessons in schools and training for professionals and parents.
Airtel-Vodafone is providing funding to the Youth Commission to enable the work to take place.
The partnership will see the delivery of in-school sessions focusing on the responsible use of technology and online safety to 2,500 11-18 year olds, with each primary school also receiving an annual assembly.
The sessions, which will start this term, include online safety tips for internet browsing, social networking platforms and online gaming for different devices including computers, smartphones and tablets. At the end of the educational sessions it is hoped that young people will have a better understanding of the potential dangers of being online and how to mitigate them which will help to build their confidence, ensuring they have the knowledge to benefit from all the internet has to offer while staying safe.
A large part of the programme will focus on educating young people about how the information they upload can be used and shared without their knowledge, highlighting the potential negative consequences and how to avoid them. A practical guide - Vodafone’s Digital Parenting magazine, will be made available as a takeaway resource for parents and professionals.
Kerstin Neason, Youth Commission CEO, said: ‘The potential for the internet to be a valuable and a fun resource for entertainment, making friends, keeping in touch and learning is huge for young people. But young people using the internet need to be aware of online threats - be it bullying, fraud or something more serious. We’re grateful to be working with Airtel-Vodafone and are pleased to be able to draw on their experience and educational resource to spread awareness and build important online safety skills.’
Peter Zunino, head of marketing at Airtel-Vodafone said: ‘This partnership further cements our long standing commitment to help keep Guernsey children safe online and builds on work we have already done around content filtering and providing access to educational resources such the Vodafone Digital Parenting Guide. We are looking forward to working with the Commission to help offer parents, teachers and children alike with the right technical and practical advice to empower their digital journey.’
Alun Williams, lifelong learning manager for States of Guernsey Education Services said: ‘This partnership will enable us to support our children and young people, teaching them to be responsible digital citizens and help keep them safe in their digital world. Airtel-Vodafone has long supported the work of our online safety committee and I am pleased that their continued sponsorship will allow the Youth Commission team to visit schools and help instil the skills and confidence in children to help keep them safe online.’
