A deep dive into the Safer Internet Day 2023 resources: 7-11 years edition
Each year in the UK, Safer Internet Day explores a new issue or theme which is impacting the lives of young people in the UK.
This year, the theme is all about putting children and young people’s voices at the forefront of the campaign, encouraging them to help shape the future of online safety support.
The education resources are there to help teachers and professionals – whether as part of a school, charity, youth group, police service, business, library or wider – to deliver engaging and interactive Safer Internet Day sessions.
Geared around starting conversations, the activities provide opportunities to hear from children and young people about the issues most affecting them online. By understanding their perspectives and experiences, we can provide the very best support and advice.
Last time, we spotlighted specific resources in our educational pack to use for 3-7 years; this week, we’re taking a look at what’s in store for 7-11 year olds when exploring this year’s theme:
What’s included in the educational resources for 7-11 year olds?
The resources include activities that:
- Start conversations with children and young people about their online experiences,
- Engage families, parents and carers at home,
- Can be lead by children and young people,
- Promote speaking up and different ways to get support.
There is also an assembly which introduces the Safer Internet Day campaign and theme.
I’ve only got 10 minutes at the start of the day, what activity could I use?
It is winter so why not have a ‘snowball fight’ (page 9) with a difference? This snowball fight asks learners to think about the internet and internet safety. Learners devise the questions to review online safety you have covered or to gather people’s views.
Everyone writes their question on a piece of paper and scrunches it up to make a snowball. You start the snowball fight and everyone throws the snowballs around the room. Stop the fight after a little bit and ask everyone to pick up one snowball. Ask each person to read their question and answer it. Throw the snowballs again!
I’ve got about an hour, what should I use?
On page 7, we have put together the outline of a lesson that will take about 45 minutes.
The lesson starts with ‘The Alpha-Net’. Learners must think of something they enjoy doing or seeing online for every letter of the alphabet. This is a fun and positive way to get learners thinking about the things that they do online.
Next the emphasis shifts towards online safety and some of the risks. ‘Where on the line?’ asks learners to rank issues like scams, online bullying and livestreaming.
Start by asking them to rank these issues in terms of risk to children of their age and you can then move on to see how often they see it happening or which ones they need the most help with.
You can make this a discussion activity using a line or a piece of paper or ask learners to get up and move about. Look out for issues that your learners identified as high risk and that they see most for the last activity.
Finally, learners will reflect and think about how and when to get help. ‘The healing power of help’ starts by helping learners identify the clues they get from their body when they are uncomfortable or need help, such as a tummy ache or a headache. Learners will also think about what they would do if they needed help and describe how asking for help makes us feel better.
I want to get parents and carers involved as well. Got any suggestions?
A, B, C – How well do you know me? is a fun game that gets families talking about the internet and how they use it.
Families need to cut out the cards and deal them out . Each family member will read out their situation cards and ask the others to guess what they would do. The situations cover a variety of online safety issues and are great for creating discussion.
How well do they know each other and how honest will people be?
How else can I get involved in Safer Internet Day?
There are a few other things you can be doing if you want the next chapter of Safer Internet Day to be bigger and better than ever.
Register as a supporter
Join organisations from across the UK and register as a Safer Internet Day supporter. For inspiration, see what people across the UK are doing to celebrate Safer Internet Day 2023!
Contribute to the Youth Charter
This Safer Internet Day we are creating a national youth charter setting out children and young people’s agenda and the changes they want to see in how they’re supported online. Schools and youth groups can use the form on this page to submit your own Youth Charter and have your voices heard!
Take a look at our films
We have created a range of Safer Internet Day films to help you deliver sessions for Safer Internet Day, whether you are a school, nursery, youth group, library, police service, or wider.
Get involved on social media
This pack is designed to help your organisation celebrate the day on social media. The social media pack includes information about the theme, as well as ways you can join the conversation on 7th February.