On 11 February 2014, the eleventh annual Safer Internet Day will take place with the theme ‘Let’s create a better internet together’.
On 11 February 2014, the eleventh annual Safer Internet Day will take place with the theme ‘Let’s create a better internet together’.
To support Safer Internet Day the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is providing videos, articles and games to help guide parents and children in choosing age appropriate films to stream or download.
Celebrated globally in over a hundred countries, Safer Internet Day aims to inspire the safe, responsible and creative use of technology. This year’s theme covers the responsibility that everyone has in making the internet a safer and better place. For young people, Safer Internet Day is a chance to celebrate being kind and creative online, while educators, parents and carers can help to empower young people to embrace the positive by equipping them with the digital literacy skills they require for today’s world.
Lucy Brett, Head of Education at the BBFC said: “We know parents like to check the age rating of a film before their children see it at the cinema or on DVD and the same applies to films on the internet. We asked parents specifically about checking age ratings for films online during research carried out in 2011 and 90% of parents with children under 16 said they consider it important to have consistent BBFC classifications for video-on-demand content. We’ve been working with video-on-demand platforms to provide age ratings for films available to stream and download since 2008 and we hope our new guides and videos about how to use age ratings online will help both parents and children choose content online that’s suitable for them or their family.”
The BBFC is providing two videos, one for adults and another for children, available on SIDtv and on the BBFC and CBBFC websites. These videos are designed to help parents and children find out more about where they can find content online with BBFC age ratings and how tools like BBFCinsight can be used, either on the BBFC website or the free BBFC App, to find out more about why a film received the age rating it did, before they watch it online. For parents there is additional information about how the BBFC works with Mobile Network Operators to restrict adult content on mobile internet networks. The BBFC will also tweet tips for choosing films online throughout Safer Internet Day, linking to new BBFC guides for parents about choosing films online for their family.
Coordinated in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre, Safer Internet Day brings together hundreds of organisations from across the UK in promoting the safe use of technology. The UK Safer Internet Centre will be presenting a live TV Show from Belfast as well as hosting a youth event at Microsoft’s head offices in London.
The Safer Internet Day 2014 Youth Event will bringing together a panel of young people with experts across government, industry and education to hear more about what a better internet means to each of these important audiences.
Will Gardner, Director of the UK Safer Internet Centre, said: “This Safer Internet Day looks set to be the biggest one yet - the fantastic range of supporters really reflects how widespread and important this issue is, and we are delighted to see such collaborations where schools, civil society, public and private sectors are all championing the same cause. Safer Internet Day is a time to celebrate the great work that everyone across the UK is doing to create a better internet together.”
