Cyber Safety Resources available to youngsters

Youngsters in Wales now have extra resources available to them to help ensure their safety thanks to the development and introduction of new initiatives from the All Wales School Liaison Core Programme (AWSLCP).

 

The AWSLCP is an educational initiative funded by the four welsh police forces and the Welsh Government. The programme is delivered by trained police officers to pupils throughout Wales between the ages of five and 16 years of age. The focus of the programme is to help prevent crimes and to promote positive citizenship through lessons around three main themes: drugs and substance misuse; social behaviour and community; and safety.

Two bilingual DVDs have been produced in partnership with the Child Exploitation and Online protection Centre (CEOP) for use in lessons delivered to pupils aged 9-14 to raise awareness of safety issues when using the internet. The characters within the DVDS are played by children from schools across South Wales.

As well as delivery of the programme and the DVD resources, AWSLCP have also been developing an accompanying website – www.schoolbeat.org- which is to be used as an additional interactive resource for police officers, teachers, parents and pupils. While the sections for teachers and officers have already been developed and are in use, from Monday (December 12th) the pupils section will go live which will help in disseminating important safety messages on important crime prevention issues such as drug and substance misuse, alcohol, internet safety, domestic abuse, diversity, anti social behaviour, bullying, car crime, weapons and personal safety in a fun and interactive way. Each web page relates to one of the Programme lessons.

Gwent Police Chief Constable Carmel Napier commented:

“We warmly welcome the development of the DVDs and website resources to help ensure children in Wales are safe when using the internet.

“The internet is accessible 24 hours a day and if not used correctly can put young people at risk. For example teenagers sometimes post personal, potentially exploitable, information about themselves online which often leaves them vulnerable to grooming by people who do not reveal their real identity and true motivations.

“The resources developed by the AWSLCP initiative will help inform young people about the risks and how these can be minimised in clear and simple language. This is a fantastic development.”

Local Government and Communities Minister Carl Sargeant said “I’m pleased to hear about the development of these resources to raise the awareness of safety issues when youngsters use the internet.

“Making our communities safer is a priority for the Welsh Government and the All Wales Schools Liaison Core Programme is an excellent example of how the Welsh Government and the four police forces in Wales are working together to help young people stay safe and to encourage them to play a vital role in society.”

Jonathan Baggaley, Head of Education at CEOP, said:

“There are enormous opportunities online for young people in terms of learning, exploring their interests, creativity and communicating with friends.

“However, along with these opportunities there are real risks and people who will try to exploit the internet to target children and exploit their vulnerabilities.

“Through resources like these films and via our Thinkuknow awareness raising programme we can empower children to know how to protect themselves from the risks they face and how to report suspicious or inappropriate behaviour.”