Safer Internet Day 2019 Educational resources for 14-18 Year Olds

14 Dec 2018 Becca Cawthorne

Safer Internet Day 2019 will be celebrated globally on Tuesday 5th February 2019 with the slogan ‘Together for a better internet’.

About Safer Internet Day 2019

In the UK each year we choose a theme that we think best suits the landscape of online safety in the country and the issues that young people may face online. The theme for Safer Internet Day 2019 is consent and through this we will look at the way that we give, ask and receive consent in an online context.

Each year to help schools to celebrate Safer Internet Day we create a range of Education Packs that look at the theme in a way that is suitable for children and young people of different ages.

For Safer Internet Day 2018 our Education Packs were downloaded over 800,000 times, with teachers telling us of the positive impact these lessons had on their pupils.

One teacher said:

‘Students felt confident and were given a platform which enabled them to discuss concerns, ask questions and make disclosures.’ – Secondary school teacher, Surrey.

What is in the pack for 14-18 year olds?

In this Education Pack we wanted to make it easier for educators to examine the important issue of consent online with 14 to 18 years olds, whether they had 10 minutes, an hour, or a week to do so.

It can be difficult for schools and colleges to find the time in the curriculum to cover online safety, and for youth groups to cover issues with a wide range of ages. Because of this we have designed this Education Pack to be different. Instead of traditional lesson plans there is a presentation that can be delivered as an assembly, or broken up into smaller sessions with quick activities to follow.

This Education Pack focuses upon consent in two main ways. Firstly, it looks at young people’s everyday interactions online whether this is adding someone to a group chat, joking with friends, or sharing photos.  The pack then encourages young people to think about when they need to ask for consent, and when they are okay to act without.

Secondly, the Education Pack looks at consent in terms of our data and the data that we share online with people and companies. It covers issues such as: What data is being shared and who with? How is our data being used now? And what might happen to our data in the future?

To help educators deliver these sessions there is a guide to explain how this pack works, as well as top tip videos, a poster to promote the day and much more.

What are the key learning objectives?

Through using this pack we want young people to take control of their own lives online and to recognise the importance of consent. Consent can be expressly given, but can also be passive or even assumed; because of this, consent is an issue that needs to be considered with some thought, respect and sensitivity.

The Education Pack for 14-18 year olds examines the issues around data use and data sharing. When it comes to young people’s data we want them to understand what data actually is, how it is created, and who collects or stores it.

Key quick activities in this pack 

A really great way for young people to start thinking about their data is through using the Data Rater task. This is the third of the Quick Activities in this Education Pack. In this task learners are asked to decide how they feel about parts of their data being stored on the scale of ‘’most happy’’ to ‘’least happy’’.

Whilst the young people may not be worried about some of the data that is stored about them, it will be interesting for them to reflect upon the data stored by the apps and sites they already use.

Guidance for educators

We have also created a guidance pack for the people delivering Safer Internet Day messages in your school, youth group or other setting.

This gives further advice about how to mark Safer Internet Day, including information on how to handle disclosures and sensitive topics, as well as how you can spread the word even further.

Join hundreds of organisations across the UK

You can link up with the wider campaign taking place across the UK – and globally in over 130 countries – by joining the social media campaign and registering as an official supporter.

Simply complete our registration form to become a Safer Internet Day supporter and we will add your organisation’s statement and logo to our supporter page. You will also receive a certificate and be added to our map of supporters.

Key links