Facebook To Fully Train UK Students As Cyber Safety Experts

Facebook To Fully Train UK Students As Cyber Safety Experts

Just of recent, the well known social media company Facebook has pledged more than £1 million to basically help turn British schoolchildren into " Digital Safety Ambassadors." The scheme, which was created by the Childnet International and The Diana Award, will teach students about social media, cyberbullying and the various hazards of the wider internet or the cyberspace as it is also called. The trained students will then act as a support group for their friends and fellow pupils, fielding questions and leading online safety initiatives in the classroom as the case may be.  Furthermore, Facebook says its investment will equally allow every UK secondary school to have its own digital safety ambassador, if the secondary schools are interested in the project. So roughly, in total, that could be an extra 4,500 pupils sharing good advice with their peers.

Furthermore, the digital safety ambassadors fall into two main camps. The first camp which is The Diana Award trains anti-bullying ambassadors with a mixture of face-to-face training, online resources and forums. The charity, which was set up in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, also provides an online newsletter and monthly challenges, which can be assigned to students as homework, that tackle LGBTQ+ issues, racism as well as online behaviours and attitudes. So on the other hand, the Childnet, creates "digital leaders" with a dedicated online curriculum about internet safety and "resilience building." Facebook's funding for the programme will extend the reach of both programmes with more classroom visits and better online resources.

Furthermore, as part of the announcement, Child International, The Diana Award and Facebook have together created a physical, immersive experience in London called 'House of Us.' Thus it will run presently and in the future and allow young people to experience many of the problems that their contemporaries face online in the cyberspace, as well as the impact a friendly, reliable support system can make. The installation will include an "audio maze" that mimicks the complex emotions people feel while being bullied, and a light room that responds to positive feedback and support. Staff will survey the students afterwards and use their comments to shape future projects and classroom resources.