Safer Internet Day 2010
09 Feb 2010
Microsoft Ireland and PSNI to roll out online safety programme in primary schools across Northern Ireland
- Microsoft Ireland and PSNI visit 53 primary schools and educate up to 5,000 students to ‘think before they post’
- Microsoft research shows that 78% of teenagers in the UK and Northern Ireland are active users of social networking sites and that 58% of their parents do nothing to encourage online safety
Microsoft Ireland today joined forces with the PSNI as the company kicked off its campaign both in the North and the Republic of Ireland to promote internet safety among children and to encourage them to ‘think before you post’. The campaign is being run in Northern Ireland by Microsoft Ireland in partnership with the PSNI to mark Safer Internet Day, which takes place across Europe on 9 February. Teams of people from Microsoft will visit 70 primary schools across the island of Ireland – which includes 53 in Northern Ireland - and train over 6,200 students on 8 and 9 February 2010 to deliver internet safety sessions to students.
Research released by Microsoft today, highlights the pressing need to educate children and teenagers in responsible internet use and online awareness. Of the teenagers in the UK and Northern Ireland surveyed 64% of them said that they have been approached online by a stranger through their social networking page. Furthermore results reveal that a staggering 65% of have responded or contacted a stranger online or via social networking sites. This action should be a cause for serious concern for parents, guardians and teachers.
The research also shows that today’s teenagers in the UK and Northern Ireland are sophisticated internet users, with 78% of them actively accessing social networking sites, but Microsoft’s research has shown worrying gaps in their online safety awareness and overall internet education. 58% of those surveyed said their parents / guardians are doing nothing to encourage them to be safe online.
The research indicates that the majority of teenagers (52%) believe it is safe to share personal information across social networking sites, with over half surveyed allowing any internet users to access their information.
Commenting on the issue of internet safety, Paul Tanner, Microsoft Ireland, said: “We take the issue of internet safety very seriously and have continuously invested in schemes and programmes to help educate young users of the internet and their parents about how to use this great resource in a safe and efficient manner. As part of Safer Internet Day we are partnering with the PSNI, government and educational representatives to highlight the importance of this issue. In addition, we have prepared useful resources for families to use – such as our family safety tools and continually invest in our products to ensure that their safety features are constantly enhanced. Our latest browser, Internet Explorer 8 offers significant additional safety features over and above earlier versions and that is one of the reasons that we are encouraging people to upgrade to IE8 as part of the activity this week. We take our responsibilities as a leader in the ICT industry very seriously and prioritise the issue of child online safety in all of our activities.”
Dympna Thornton, Educational Advisor, from the Police Service said: “Young people are using online tools like Bebo, Facebook, and Twitter to write about their lives, express their views and, more importantly, to connect and share their lives with friends. In these spaces audiences are invisible, contexts are fluid, and distinctions between public and private are becoming increasingly blurred. Young people try to use privacy settings to restrict who can see their personal information, how it can be searched, and in what context it can be seen. However, in reality these measures can be circumvented easily. We are delighted to work with Microsoft again this year and to join them and our colleagues across Northern Ireland today in calling on young people to take control of their personal information and “Think before You Post”.”
Mr Tanner concluded by saying: “I’d like to thank the PSNI for partnering with us for our campaign in the Northern Ireland. Today’s ‘web generation’ is increasingly communicating and sharing personal information via the internet and through the growing number of social networking sites. The advent of social media has created a world of sophisticated web users, but our children and young people still need guidance on what personal information can be safely shared online. This is why Safer Internet Day has been established to ensure that children can explore the best of the internet and are protected from the worst. We are absolutely delighted to be part of Safer Internet Day 2010, helping consumers understand how to safely surf the web.”
All the pupils who attended a presentation also received a booklet on internet safety courtesy of Microsoft. Guidelines on internet safety can be viewed online at www.microsoft.com/ireland/onlinesafety
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