Digital Ready Hub set to help parents and carers keep children safe online
With children and young people increasingly living life online, ISPCC and the Vodafone Ireland Foundation are supporting parents and carers to become ‘Digital Ready’ and champion children’s digital safety and resilience.
The Digital Ready Hub is an online resource for parents and carers keen to learn more about how they can support children and young people to have safe, positive, online experiences.
The Hub will allow parents and carers to check in and see how they are doing when it comes to children and young people’s online safety by taking the ISPCC’s ‘Digital Ready Check’. This supportive and informative tool showcases how they can broaden their knowledge to empower them to further support children and young people.
Also featured on the Hub are articles, downloadable tips and guides on topics including digital resilience and empathy; digital platforms and devices; online risks and cyberbullying, security and privacy.
Clinical Psychologist Dr David Coleman, Cyberpsychology Lecturer Dr Nicola Fox Hamilton, Newstalk Technology Correspondent Jess Kelly and primary school principal, Iseult Mangan, are among the contributors sharing insights and knowledge across all aspects of children and young people’s online safety on the Digital Ready Hub.
‘SAFETY IS PARAMOUNT’
Vodafone Ireland and ISPCC Childline have been working with the joint vision of ‘keeping children safe by keeping them connected’. The ISPCC’s Childline Listening Service receives up to 800 calls, texts and online contacts from children and young people across Ireland every day with many vulnerable users more in need of the service than ever before.
ISPCC Childline Chief Executive John Church said: “We are delighted to be announcing the launch of the comprehensive ‘Digital Ready Hub’, which has been made possible with thanks to the generous support of the Vodafone Ireland Foundation. The Hub is packed with information and guidance and will be a one-stop destination for parents and carers seeking to help ensure their children can have safe and positive experiences online.
“We know from our work directly with children, young people, parents and carers that they feel the online world presents a fantastic breadth of positive opportunities, but that safety is paramount, and they can be exposed to potential risks. With life being increasingly lived online, it is important that parents and carers know the pivotal role they can play in this area.
“The ‘Digital Ready Hub’ will help to equip and empower them by providing a ‘Digital Ready Check’, as well as expert guidance, articles, tips and guides on how to support children and young people to become resilient, empathetic, digital citizens.”
The ISPCC Digital Ready Hub can be accessed at www.ispcc.ie/ispcc-digitalready-hub/