Today is Safer Internet Day - Think B4 U Post!

Today, 9th February 2009, is Safer Internet Day 2010.  The worldwide initiative is organised each year to promote safer and more responsible use of online technology, particularly amongst children throughout the world. 

The message which Safer Internet Day is promoting this year is Think B4 U Post!

Click Read More for more information, and to view a video about this year’s Safer Internet Day message.



The idea behind this year’s campaign is the recognition that the modern internet (and the social networking sites it contains) make it very easy for anyone to create and publish content online.  This could be the simple status updates on sites like Facebook or Twitter, longer blog articles, or photos or videos. 

Younger people are particularly prolific at publishing this kind of information, particularly on their Facebook pages, and often lack the skills to determine whether publishing, say, a photo of themselves is either sensible or indeed safe. 

Added to this, the ability to “tag” or label a person in a photo on such sites can quickly build up a publicly-available gallery of a person – aiding predators and creating an almost-irreversible record of a person’s history, with good and bad aspects online for anyone to see.

Publishing is often both instant and “viral” – information and photos spread throughout contacts quickly and irreversibly.  Once the “Send” button is pushed, the child can lose control of that content.  It can also be edited, for example by bullies to add hurtful comments, and that edited version can spread just as quickly.

The campaign aims to make young people aware of the risks involved in publishing personal information and photos online and educate them about the methods which are available on social networking sites to control access to that information.

Do you know what your children are posting online?

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