National Youth Events 2016

Young people played a central role in Safer Internet Day 2016, from visiting Number 10 Downing Street to share their views, to running sessions for their peers and getting creative for an app competition in Wales.

On the morning of Safer Internet Day a group of young people met with the Prime Minister’s special advisor at Number 10 Downing Street to share their perspectives on how to create a better internet for all.

Later on that day, the young people headed to the BT Centre where they took centre-stage at the event in front of an audience of 150 policymakers to share their views on online empowerment and online hate.

They presented their views and two representatives joined a panel along with high profile panelists from Facebook, Twitter, Stonewall and True Vision, the police agency who deal with hate crime, chaired by BBC Click presenter Kate Russell.

Two ministers spoke at the event; Baroness Shields, Minister for Internet Safety and Security, and Edward Timpson MP, Minister for Children and Families.

A team of young Digital Leaders at Craigmount High School in Edinburgh delivered a presentation to their peers before meeting Aileen Campbell MSP, Children’s Minister in the Scottish Government, and Tam Baillie, the Children & Young People’s Commissioner for Scotland.

Students from Ysgol Y Preseli school in Pembrokeshire showed us the winning app by Secondary schools My Username Generator which they created for the
Safer Internet Day 2016 app competition in Wales.

And pupils from Cornist Park school in Flintshire told us about how they created the Primary winning app Safe eExplorers.