What is Safer Internet Day?
Safer Internet Day (SID) is a global initiative to promote the safe and positive use of digital technology for young audiences. The event is coordinated in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre and is celebrated in over a hundred countries coordinated by the joint Insafe/INHOPE network. Support is provided by the European Commission, and national Safer Internet Centres across Europe.
Celebrating Safer Internet Day at SuperAwesome
Each year at SuperAwesome, we celebrate this event by spreading awareness and sharing the messaging on PopJam, our moderated platform for under 13s. It’s a great opportunity for us to educate and inform PopJammers, but also for us to learn about the things they love online – and their concerns. We also work directly with schools, taking part in workshops and assemblies on online safety, privacy, creativity and the latest SID themes. This was a remote experience last year, and will be this year – but we’re eager to continue supporting the amazing students and teachers.
As a content-sharing community, PopJam has been the perfect place for us to share resources, quizzes, and creative challenges around Safer Internet Day with children. We see inspiring messaging and amazing art from kids who feel strongly about being kind and safe online.
Respect and Relationships in online gaming
This Safer Internet Day, the theme is respect and relationships in online gaming. The theme celebrates young people’s role in creating a safer internet, as well as the ways they are shaping the online spaces they belong to.
We asked PopJammers what their favorite things about being online were, and the top mentions were around friends and gaming; making friends, talking to friends and playing with friends. Online relationships and gaming are huge for kids – exploring friendships, learning, and play are all parts of healthy development. Feeling connected has always been important, and the pandemic has shown that it’s now more important than ever for young people.
PopJammers’ concerns about being online centered on hackers, bullying, scammers, and bad people (meaning rude, creepy, and mean people). Based on our previous research, hackers and bullying are consistent worries for kids. This pattern shows that the SID 2022 theme will be hugely important for teaching kids the importance of respect and safety online. PopJam moderates content with expert humans and AI and doesn’t allow young people to share their face or personal information. It also filters out negative language. More than this, we talk to kids about our community rules, including not sharing information about themselves and being kind. Messaging from Safer Internet Day resonates with the platform and the children using it, who want a safe, creative place to play.
Providing safe online spaces and moderated and curated digital experiences for kids online remains at the heart of the work we do at SuperAwesome, which is why we’re always delighted to support Safer Internet Day, and the positive use of digital technology for young audiences.
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