The Click Clever, Click Safecampaign being launched across the UK today, will promote the Digital Code – a ‘Green Cross Code’ for internet safety - ‘Zip it, Block it, Flag it’.The campaign will encourage parents to talk to their children about internet safety and will tell both parents and children where they can get help online when they encounter problems.
Zip it – get your children to keep their passwords safe and to think about what they say and do online
Block it – Make sure your children know how to block people that upset them and don’t open unknown links and attachments
Flag it – Ask your child regularly if they have seen or done anything online that upsets them and encourage them to speak up if someone asks to meet them offline.
The awareness campaign will be adopted by social networking sites, industry, schools and charities, and will be promoted through radio and press advertising. More information is available at the NI Direct website.
Health Minister Michael McGimpsey, who represents the Northern Ireland Executive on the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS), said: “The internet provides our children with a ready-made world of entertainment, opportunity and knowledge. Whilst the virtual world brings many benefits it also brings with it many risks.
“Government, industry and parents all have a responsibility to ensure that this virtual world is as safe a place for our children as it can be. This campaign will help empower parents with the skills and knowledge they need to talk to their children about their online world and provide advice on how they can help their kids protect themselves.”
The campaign is the latest step by the UKCCIS in implementing the UK’s Internet Safety Strategy which was developed in response to the recommendations of the Byron Review - ‘Safer Children in a Digital World’.
The Minister continued: “The UKCCIS brings together the UK Government, devolved administrations, industry and the voluntary sector in a joint effort to make all of our children safer online. In Northern Ireland, this is an excellent example of how Departments within the Executive are working together to implement a cross cutting strategy.”
The Minister concluded: “The UKCCIS has established a one-stop shop for parents and children which includes information on staying safe online. Parents and children can download a direct link to CEOP which hosts this service by connecting to a simple online link. The internet is a wonderful resource for both education and fun. Its appeal and usefulness just seems to grow and grow. This campaign is about ensuring that it can be enjoyed safely. I would strongly encourage all parents to familiarise themselves with the code and discuss the internet with their children.”
Notes to editors:
- UKCCIS was set up in September 2008 to implement the recommendations of Professor Tanya Byron’s review ‘Safer Children in a Digital World’. It is made up of over 140 organisations, including Google, Microsoft, Bebo and the NSPCC.
- On 8 December 2009 the UKCCIS launched the new digital “green cross code” Zip it, Block it, Flag it’. UKCCIS want to see this digital code become as familiar as ‘Stop, Look, Listen’. The code has been tested with a range of parents, young people and children who universally responded positively to it.
- In Northern Ireland the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is a cross-curricular skill compulsory at all key stages of the curriculum. As part of using ICT, pupils will learn how to keep safe and display acceptable online behaviour.
- Young people now have much greater online access than ever before, with research showing that 99% of 8-17 year olds have access to the web. Nearly one in five young people say that they have come across harmful or inappropriate content on line. Nearly one third of children have said that their parents don’t really know what they do on the internet.
- The UK’s Safer Internet Strategy is a cross cutting issue that will implemented by Departments across the NI Executive. A DHSSPS led group includes representatives from DE, DCAL,DETI, DFP, OFMDFM and key voluntary sector groups. This group is developing an NI communications plan which will ensure that key messages from the UKCCIS strategy are targeted at audiences here and to help co-ordinate cross Departmental activity.
- CEOP, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre which hosts a one-stop shop for parents and children on behalf of the UKCCIS, is promoting a new animated film, Lee and Kim's Adventures, which aims to help children aged from 5-7 to understand "the concepts of personal information and trust" and thus stay safer online. Research published last year by Ofcom suggested that 80% of this age group use the net.
- CEOP has also worked with Microsoft to add features to the Internet Explorer 8 browser, mainly by installing a Web Slice, though it's also possible to add search suggestions and Favorites (bookmarks). A Web Slice adds a button to the Favorites bar and shows a panel of content that can be updated from the site. In this case, the ClickCEOP button provides links that children can click for help with cyberbullying, harmful content and other problems, or ask for age-appropriate advice. Users who don't have IE8 can download the CEOP version. Where children use a different browser, parents can add a link to https://www.ceop.police.uk/reportabuse/ This web page provides the same information.
- CEOP is also running a Protect programme, where volunteers from O2, Visa Europe and Microsoft are "joining forces with CEOP to deliver online safety into hundreds of schools across the UK
- For further information, please contact the DHSSPS Press Office on 028 90520571. Out of office hours please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.
