O2 & NSPCC - Children's Online Safety

[EmilieT]

Hi everyone, 

I hope you all had a lovely weekend and are ready for a new week 

O2 offers so many products and services that it's hard to keep track of them all - that's why we'd like to start some conversations around less talked about services that a few of you might have used, have feedback on, or simply might come in handy at some point. 

As last Friday marked the end of Family Safety week, I thought it would be good to discuss this week the collaboration between O2 and NSPCC. 

O2 and NSPCC have joined forces to create a hub where parents can find tools to keep their children safe online and around technology in general. There is also a newsletter that, each week, is centered around themes such as cyberbullying or avoiding inappropriate content. It is meant to facilitate conversations between parents and their children around these topics that can sometimes be challenging to talk about 

I'd love to hear if some of you have used this newsletter or any material on the O2 hub. Even if you haven't yet, what do you think of the results of this partnership? Is there anything you particularly like about the material/newsletter or would like to see there? 

Looking forward to your comments!

[MI5]

Bullying is something that needs to be focussed on strongly these days.
It's so much easier now for "keyboard warriors" to bully people online and it can have some devastating results if allowed to continue.
It was something brought home to me fairly recently when a bullied child walked into my kids school with knives and a shotgun to "deal with the issue himself."
Unsurprisingly, any reports of children being bullied at school or on social media are now taken far more seriously!
It seems it all stemmed from others being jealous as they were losers in their own right but very sad it developed into what it did..... Totally unnecessary but something every parent needs to be aware of and look out for.

[Cleoriff]

I totally supported this initiative when O2 first joined forces with the NSPCC.

Through the power of social media, bullying can have a devastating effect on children today.

Made even worse when they refuse to tell their parents that they are being bullied.

My grandson experienced the 'side' effects of bullying when one of his closest friends hung himself when they were at 6th form college.

Anyone under 18 is classed as a child, and this person was 17 yrs old with the rest of their life yet to come.

Tragic.

[EmilieT]

Thanks for sharing your experiences, @MI5 and @Cleoriff. It's really sad that situations like this get to such extremes.

I agree that it needs to be talked about more, and that's why initiatives such as this NSPCC/O2 newsletter seem so important Giving families more tools to articulate conversations around these topics can only help children be more respectful of each others' feelings and more able to speak up if needed.