Safer Internet Day

Tuesday 12 February 08

Safer Internet Day takes place each year in February and is an opportunity to dedicate some time in schools to reflect on some of the issues and more importantly to raise awareness of them.

It is organised by Insafe,the European internet safety network. In 2007, 43 countries from all over the world participated in Safer Internet Day. The 5th edition of SID will take place on 12 February 2008.

Safety Risks

Safety risks exist wherever we are - at school or home, in the shopping centre, in the playground, or on the internet. They are, however, increased in the online environment by the fact that we can't usually see who we are communicating with, probably don't know who provided the data we are accessing, and online content comes without any quality assurance from a reputable publisher or editor. In order to compensate for this, we need to develop our information literacy skills and behave in a more discriminating manner when online.

Strangely enough, many people who wouldn't dream of leaving their doors or windows unlocked at home simply throw caution to the wind when they are online. Young people often talk about losing all their inhibitions when communicating on internet or by mobile phone, and therefore behave very differently than they would offline.

People tend to act more irresponsibly and feel less accountable when they believe they are acting anonymously - little do they realise that all actions on the internet are traceable. Irresponsible online behaviour raises a broad variety of safety issues ranging from online bullying and risky encounters in chat rooms to fraud when shopping online.

What can you do to get the very best out of internet and avoid the pitfalls? Firstly, never give away any private information - don't tell anyone anything that could help them identify or locate you. Protect your data by installing technical filters, anti-spyware and by using the recommended default safety settings on all your online equipment, from modem to mobile.

The web can be a source of Illegal & harmful content. Illegal content (child pornography, xenophobia, hate speech, racism, etc.) should be reported to your national hotline, member of the INHOPE association. Harmful content (undesirable content which is not necessarily illegal - e.g. adult pornography) can be reported to your national awareness node, member of the Insafe network.