Safer Internet Day

Safer Internet Day: Let’s create a better internet together

When Safer Internet Day was launched more than a decade ago, smartphones were a rarity, GameBoy topped the console wish list and Facebook was a mere twinkle in Mark Zuckerberg’s eye. Things have moved on – often at breakneck speed – but the issues that SID raised back in the early noughties continue to resonate.

Now more than ever, digital technology is woven into the fabric of our lives. It helps to save us time, keep us connected and expand our knowledge. But its imperfections can’t be ignored, particularly when it comes to young people. What risks might they face when they go online? How can they protect their digital reputation? Has social media changed the friendships they have? As a parent, you probably ask yourself these kind of questions on a regular basis.

That’s where Safer Internet Day comes in. A global awareness campaign, it champions the safe, responsible and positive use of digital technology by children and teenagers. On 10 February 2015, its organisers called on young people, parents, carers, teachers, social workers, law enforcement, companies, policymakers and others in more than 100 countries to help create a better internet together. It’s about supporting young people and helping them to build resilience so that they can enjoy the digital world and the myriad opportunities it offers.

The UK Safer Internet Centre – a partnership of three leading charities, Childnet, the South West Grid for Learning and the Internet Watch Foundation – organises Safer Internet Day in the UK.

As Childnet’s CEO Will Gardner, who spoke to Vodafone ahead of Safer Internet Day, comments:

This Safer Internet Day is all about empowering and inspiring young people – and all internet users – to help create a kinder online community. We have seen hundreds of organisations sign up to get involved in the day, including schools, charities, public and private sector, and it is this collaboration that makes Safer Internet Day such a far-reaching and impactful campaign. It is great to see that Vodafone is really getting behind the day and helping to reach out to key audiences.”

Get involved

Here at Vodafone, we are proud to support Safer Internet Day once again this year and we encourage you to do the same. There are lots of ways to get involved...

VISIT the Safer Internet Day website

TAKE the Safer Internet Day quiz

MAKE a Safer Internet Day pledge about how you will help make the internet a better place

WATCH SID TV on 10 February

FIND OUT out whether your child’s school is supporting Safer Internet Day – there is lots of great information in these education packs

SPREAD THE WORD – pass on the SID2015 details to your friends and family, like SID2015 on Facebook and tweet about it with #up2us and #SID2015

HAVE an open dialogue with your child about what they do online – chat about it as you do about school, friends, hobbies and other important things in their life

FIND ways to enjoy the digital world together, like playing a game, setting up a video chat with grandma or learning to code

Want to know how you can get more involved in what your child is doing online? Our new Coding and My Tech Family sections would be a good place to start.