Why we celebrate Safer Internet Day

The time is upon us again to celebrate a very important day: Safer Internet Day! Started back in 2004, Safer Internet Day promotes a safer internet experience for users both young and old, to bring about discussions regarding online safety, ongoing education, and to find ways to help improve the internet for everyone.

Haven’t heard of ‘Safer Internet Day’? Here’s the breakdown

Safer Internet Day is an annual worldwide event that aims to raise awareness about online safety and encourages everyone to help create a better internet. This year, it’ll be celebrated on Tuesday 11th February (so make a mark in your calendar).

Last year, the global theme was ‘Together for a better internet’, which recognised that everyone — regardless of age or experience — has a unique and important part to play in contributing to an online environment that we can all share and enjoy*. Aligning with this year’s theme of ‘Together for a safer internet’, the focus is now centred on maintaining a safe environment for all users.

The different ways of celebrating Safer Internet Day

There are many ways you can celebrate Safer Internet Day in 2020, both with your family and in the workplace.

From morning teas and information sessions to hiring a guest speaker, you can promote Safer Internet Day in the office. If you’re keen to get your company involved, head on over to their official website to register your company, download all the resources, and become the champions of Safer Internet Day 2020.

Helping your kids celebrate

For your kids to get the most of their online experience, there are a couple of things that they’ll need to understand:

• The possible consequences of posting images online
• The importance of being a good bystander, and knowing when to act
• How to communicate respectfully with others
• How to report inappropriate material and contact

Learning how to use the internet can be like learning how to ride a bike. Over time, along with practice and careful guidance from others, you and your child can ensure that they’re staying safe. More than that, they’ll also be doing their part to promote a safer internet experience for everyone else.

Keen to know more? There’s a great guide on how you can make sure your kids are safe online, and ways you help to make sure they’re not exposed to inappropriate content. Simply head on over to the official website for Safer Internet Day and have a squiz at their resources.

Celebrating the day yourself

The more we’re connected to the internet and social media, the more chances we have of bumping into something questionable.

As part of making the internet a safer place for everyone, the onus is particularly on us adults to make sure we’re doing our part. This can include helpful prompts such as:

• Think about what you post online — is it offensive or inappropriate for your audience? Public posts can be seen by anyone so think twice before putting something online in a public space.
• Keeping an eye on what other people are posting and contact the material’s owner, or the site administrators if you think the material is inappropriate to see if they’ll remove the content or add a warning.
• Nobody likes a troll, full-stop! Verbally attacking another user can cause a lot of grief (and lead to other detrimental effects) so above all, just remember to play nice.
• Received a suspicious ‘friend request’ from someone you don’t know? Think twice before accepting. If you believe an account is impersonating someone else or is fraudulent, report it to the admins for further investigation, remove the friend request, and block the user.

Why is online safety important?

The internet is here to stay and given its role with online learning for future generations, it’s never been more important to ensure each online experience is a good one.

No matter your age or experience, educating yourself and in turn educating others ensures that we all benefit from a safer online experience. By working together, we can ensure that we’re protecting ourselves and others from online harm. The internet is a powerful tool for learning, but it’s also a place where you can come across dangerous material and people.

When you take some practical safety precautions on board, you can help protect yourself and others from risky or inappropriate content and activities, and make the most of your time online. Together with Belong, help celebrate Safer Internet Day 2020 and promote a safer internet experience for everyone!

If you are looking for more information on how to stay safe online, join the Belong BE SAFE Facebook group to be kept in the know!

*Source: https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/blog/safer-internet-day-2019-driving-widespread-change-online

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