Council launch initiative to keep children safe online

Council launch initiative to keep children safe online

5 October 2022

A NEW initiative has been launched to encourage children and young people to stay safe and smart online.

The animated digital campaign — #BeSafeOnline — is being spearheaded by Newry, Mourne and Down Council and is designed to raise awareness of responsible and safe use of the internet and social media.

Council officials say that sometimes being online can leave children and young people exposed to potential risk and even harm, feeling upset, bullied or worried. 

They say this means rethinking online behaviour and asking children and young people to be vigilant and to think carefully about how they interact 

and communicate with both people they know and strangers online.  

The new cyber safety awareness campaign has been developed by the local authority’s  safeguarding team through partnership working with local health trusts and Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council. 

It highlights the importance of privacy settings, sharing personal information, meeting with online strangers, handling cyber bullying and what to do if someone makes you feel uncomfortable or scared. 

Both the South Eastern and Southern health trusts are working to ensure their respective teams are on hand to support anyone who needs help or support when navigating the online world. 

Council chairman, Michael Savage, said children and young people are spending more time online than ever before, which means cyber safety is more important than ever. 

“While websites, gaming, live streaming and social media, like all forms of public communication, come with risks, not all of these risks turn into actual problems,” he explained.

“By helping our children understand what some of those risks are, and how they can respond, we can all play a big part in preventing these risks from turning into problems.”

Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council Lord Mayor Paul Greenfield said being online is now a ‘normal’ part of life – especially for children and young people – and technology continues to move at an extremely fast pace. 

He added: “It is vitally important that our children and young people understand the potential risks while surfing the internet, playing games, live streaming or using social media.”

Sheila Simons, a senior manager at the South Eastern Trust, said the organisation’s children’s services directorate “very much welcomes” this new animated campaign to raise awareness and educate young people about being safe online and enable parents/carers to support their children.

Donna Murphy, the Southern Trust’s assistant director, family support and safeguarding, explained the organisation’s safeguarding team welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with Newry, Mourne and Down Council to promote awareness and to increase online safety and protection for children and young people while they are surfing the internet, playing games, using social media and live streaming to enable them to respond to any concerns or worries by adopting some simple cybersecurity measures.

Further information on the #BeSafeOnline campaign and to view the animation visit www.newrymournedown.org/safeguarding while the key telephone contact number for the South Eastern Trust is 0300 100 0300.