Safer Internet Day is being celebrated globally on Tuesday 7th February 2023 with the theme ‘Want to talk about it? Making space for conversations about life online’.
WAGGGS co-created Surf Smart 2.0 with Norton to support young people to connect safely and positively online.
The non-formal education curriculum is designed to teach young people to recognise the risks of being online and to discover and use positive aspects of the internet, with 98% of participants* saying they feel more able to identify if something is dangerous online.
Both Safer Internet Day and Surf Smart 2.0 focus on promoting the safe, responsible and positive use of digital technology for children and young people.
"Norton is excited to celebrate Safer Internet Day and to continue to raise awareness about creating a safer and better internet. We value our partnership with the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts and are proud of how Surf Smart 2.0 is empowering a generation of girls and young women to use technology responsibly, creatively, and safely."
Recently India’s national member organisation, Bharat Scouts and Guides (BSG), hosted its 18th National Jamboree, in Pali, Rajasthan from 4th 10th January 2023, a large momentous occasion that is held every 4 years where more than 35,000 Guides and Scouts come together to celebrate. One of the major attractions was the WAGGGS Global Village, which had six different WAGGGS initiatives running throughout the seven-day event.
Throughout the jamboree, a taster session was held on Surf Smart 2.0 focusing on giving young people the opportunity to talk about their current attitude towards aspects of the internet and making them more aware of how they can keep themselves safe online.
In attendance at the Jamboree were the WAGGGS Surf Smart Global Programme Manager, Prerana Shakya, and WAGGGS Programme Assistant, Roji Tamang, alongside eight Surf Smart 2.0 facilitators from Bharat Scouts and Guides (BSG) across India.
“The Jamboree was very memorable time for us. We got an opportunity to work with the amazing volunteers and facilitators of the BSG from the grassroots level and it was such a fantastic opportunity to be able to showcase the Surf Smart initiative and reach the lives of 6,000 young people who came to visit the WAGGGS Global Village”.
Participants pictured at the Surf Smart session in WAGGGS village at the 18th National Jamboree.
Here, in celebration of Safer Internet Day, one facilitator from the Jamboree shares her experience of delivering the Surf Smart programme.
Ankita Pandey
“There were two main activities, which we the Surf Smart team conducted at the Jamboree; ‘Perfect Password’ and ‘Share it or Keep it.’
The idea behind these activities was to help children understand and speak more about internet safety.
Our team encouraged them to have conversations about how to create a strong password and what should and shouldn’t be shared on the internet.
Facilitating these activities has deepened my knowledge on Cyber Safety and taught me how to deal with the cyber space in a positive manner.
My message for Safer Internet Day is that by celebrating the positive power of the internet, we can encourage everyone to make the most of the internet's potential and bring people together by making space for conversations about life online. Let's talk about internet safety to make sure everyone feels safe and secure to get the most out of being online.”
At WAGGGS, we are committed to working with girls and young women on internet safety, so they go on to become responsible digital citizens. This is also one of the topics that our Global Advocacy Champions will be bringing for discussion at the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) which being held from 6th-17th March 2023.
Learn more about the Surf Smart programme and its impact here.
Find out more about the work of our Global Advocacy Champions here.
*Refers to girls and young women who took part in our Surf Smart evaluations
**Norton is a leader in Cyber Safety, and part of Gen™, a global company dedicated to powering Digital Freedom with a family of trusted consumer brands.