Join us on Tuesday 6 February for Safer Internet Day, a global initiative that brings together communities, families, schools, and organisations from more than 160 countries to help create safer online spaces.
The eSafety Commissioner leads the initiative in Australia, educating the whole community about online safety risks, like online abuse, how to be safe online and where to go for help.
Why is Safer Internet Day important?
Cyber safety education is more important than ever. In 2023, eSafety saw a 40% increase in cyberbullying complaints, with 2,383 reports of cyberbullying compared to 1,700 in 2022. Two-thirds of those reports were related to children aged 12 to 15 years.
The most common cyberbullying harms reported to eSafety were nasty comments or serious name calling, offensive or upsetting pictures or videos, fake accounts and impersonations, threats of violence and unwanted contact.
It is vital that all students receive education and support to help them navigate these complex and potentially harmful online situations. As students begin a new school year, let’s empower them to take positive actions to keep themselves and others safe.
How can schools get involved in Safer Internet Day?
This Safer Internet Day, the eSafety Commissioner is encouraging everyone to take three simple actions when approaching online safety:
- Connect safely by keeping apps and devices secure and reviewing your privacy settings regularly.
- Reflect on how your actions online may affect others or your safety.
- Protect yourself and others by visiting eSafety.gov.au to find out how to stay safe online and report online abuse.
Schools can get involved by downloading the educator campaign kit, which includes resources to support online safety education in the classroom and at home. The kit includes content for your school newsletter, social tiles, posters, flyers and more.
School communities can also get involved by:
- participating in one of eSafety’s Virtual Classrooms for primary school students, with brand new webinars released for Safer Internet day 2024 focused on staying safe in online games;
- plan a whole-school approach to online safety using the Toolkit for Schools, which includes new gudelines for setting up a gaming club at your school, and implementing The Best Practice Framework for Online Safety Education;
- provide time for staff to participate in eSafety’s Teacher Professional Learning;
- promote eSafety Parent and Carer webinars to your school community each term.
Promote cyber safety for students with a live theatre performance
We’ll be delivering our cyber safety programs for students in Melbourne and Brisbane schools on Safer Internet Day. Our cyber safety programs use live theatre to engage students in conversations about their online lives, help them create healthy online habits and provide strategies for safe and respectful online interactions.
Brainstorm Productions is endorsed by the eSafety Commissioner as a Trusted eSafety Provider. The Trusted eSafety Provider Program helps schools select high quality cyber safety programs for their students. The program gives schools confidence that the external providers they engage meet a high standard of knowledge, capability and experience in delivering online safety education.
Our teams of professional young actors will be visiting schools across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT throughout 2024. You can learn more about our 2024 programs by checking out our 2024 schedule and making a booking enquiry. You can also stay up-to-date by subscribing to our newsletter and following us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
If we all work together, then we can create a safer and more positive online world for everyone. Visit esafety.gov.au to learn more about Safer Internet Day.
