Safer Internet Day, an EU wide initiative to promote a safer Internet for all users, especially young people, will be celebrated on Tuesday 10th of February 2015. This will be the twelfth year of the event and this year’s call to action is, ‘Let’s Create a Better Internet Together’.

Safer Internet Day is an EU initiative. It is promoted in Ireland by the Webwise internet safety initiative of the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) and aims to educate and raise awareness about protecting children online, so that they can responsibly enjoy the benefits of the Internet, without compromising their safety and privacy. 
 
Building on the success of last year’s Safer Internet Day #Up2Us campaign which saw over 65 schools across Ireland initiate their own anti-cyber bullying campaigns, a key component this year will be to encourage more students to start their own youth led Safer Internet Day actions. Celebrating Safer Internet Day in schools provides the ideal opportunity for schools to meet some of the requirements laid down by the Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools in September 2013.

As more and more young people are using the Internet at a younger age, this year will see a large focus on the Internet and ‘Tweens’. Webwise will launch the ‘MySelfie – Primary Anti-Cyber Bullying on Safer Internet Day. ‘This is an innovative curriculum resource using a series of short animations which are intended to provide a starting point for classroom discussions around the emotions that drive bullying, the emotional impact that it has on victims, and how children can be agents for positive change in relation to bullying, especially cyber bullying. The animation is supported by a five lesson teaching resource on cyber bullying, targeted at 5th and 6th class primary SPHE students.

Speaking about Safer Internet Day 2015, Minister for Skills, Research and Innovation, Damien English TD, said:
 
“Children are going online at an increasingly young age with much of this activity taking place on personal devices and unsupervised. In this context, it is important that we implement educational strategies in primary schools which promote empowerment, critical thinking and respect for others. This curriculum resource will support efforts to teach children how to manage relationships, be resilient and have empathy for others.

The best way to address cyber bullying is to prevent it happening in the first place. This is a prevention and awareness raising resource that focuses on promoting appropriate online behaviour, on how to stay safe while online and also on developing a culture of reporting any concerns about cyber bullying."

Additional campaign elements of this year’s Safer Internet Day 2015 public awareness campaign include: