Following this week’s Safer Internet Day, lots of news stories and Internet safety resources were announced. Here’s a summary of what I discovered:

• CEOP revealed a new Internet safety resource for children aged 4-7. Lee and Kim’s Adventure, Animal Magic, is an 8 minute animation which involves a brother and sister navigating the online world with the help of their trusted superhero friend SID. Here’s a promotional video to tell you more about the resource:

• There are lots of related resources for teachers, which you can download here.
• These resources share four top tips for younger children to remember:
  • People you don’t know are strangers. They’re not always who they say they are.
  • Be nice to people on the computer like you would in the playground.
  • Keep your personal information private.
  • If you ever get that ‘uh oh’ feeling, you should tell a grown-up you trust.
• There is also a music video which children can use to help them learn and remember the messages shown:

Did you discover any new Internet safety resources this week?

Safer Internet Day will be taking place on Tuesday 9th February. This event is organised each year to promote safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones, especially amongst children and young people across the world. The topic for 2010 is “Think B4 U post!“.

Here’s a short advertisement which is being used to advertise the day and promote the message:

www.brainpop.co.uk/designandtechnology/ictcommunicatingandcollaborating/onlinesafety/

November saw Anti-Bullying week throw the spotlight on cyber-bullying and the distress caused by the spread of malicious video content across the internet through social networks, video sharing websites, e-mail and mobiles.

The Department for Children, Schools & Families have created a set of videos with the aim of demonstrating how a seemingly harmless and funny internet clip can be something far more sinister, and can even make the viewer an unwitting accomplice in the cyber-bullying chain.

It was also announced last week that lessons in using the internet safely will be a compulsory part of the English primary curriculum from 2011. The lessons are one element of a new government strategy called “Click Clever, Click Safe”. The main messages in the lessons are ‘Zip It, Block It, Flag It’:

Find out more in this BBC article or by reading the DCSF report.

UPDATE – This offer has now ended.

I have mentioned the wonderful site Superclubs Plus before on this blog and my own ‘MrWarner.com’ blog. The site, created by Intuitive Media is a social networking site for children, giving them access to email, forums, web site creation tools, competitions, surveys, ICT challenges, author interviews and much MUCH more… all within a safe moderated environment.

The children at my school have been using Superclubs Plus for many years and it is always incredibly popular. We use it reguarly to develop the children’s ICT skills and to support our work on Internet safety. If you haven’t tried it out with your primary pupils (aged from 6 to 11), then I highly recommend it.

If your children are too old for Superclubs Plus, why not try out Gold Star Cafe (suitable for ages 11 to 14). It’s just like Superclubs Plus, but has lots more ‘cool stuff’ for older pupils to enjoy.