The world changes. Children don’t

Today we are launching a brand new public awareness campaign. Through social media, articles, blogs, films and more, we want to get parents and carers thinking and talking about the importance of discussing sex, relationships and the internet with their children. Today is Day 1 of this three month campaign, and we are excited to introduce our first new resource entitled “The world changes. Children don’t”.  This short film that tells the age-old story of Romeo and Juliet… with a modern twist. It shows how the lives of these young lovers might play out online today, including the Lark ‘tweeting’ and Romeo ‘friending’ Juliet.

Behind this contemporary remake is the message that, although technology and social media can seem overwhelming and forever evolving, children and young people don’t change. We try to remind parents that (just as when they were young), their children are still exploring and creating their identities, keeping up with their friends and dealing with adolescent pressures. Although much of this now happens online, we remind them that the kind of parental support and advice which keeps their children safe 'in real life' will keep them safer online too. And our Thinkuknow resources can be a useful place to start in thinking about how they might frame these discussions. Your support for this campaign will make a real difference. There are three simple things you can do to help us reach as many parents and carers as possible: 1. Share the film:

2. Support the campaign on social media If you have not done so already, you can ‘like’ CEOP on Facebook at ‘ClickCEOP’ and follow us on Twitter ‘@CEOPUK’ for live updates and shareable content.

3. Promote the Thinkuknow website The parents section of the Thinkuknow website provides information to support parents and carers to understand and respond to the risks their children may face as they grow. It covers a broad range of online safety issues from nude selfies to what to do if you think your child is being groomed online. Find it at:www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents.

PiXL June Main Meeting

YouTube eSafety Tips for Parents

CAUTION SMOMBIES ARE CROSSING

Zombies are real, but people are too busy with their smartphones to notice.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – The world has a serious problem with texting. And while there are a lot of funny videos on-line with people texting and hitting poles or garbage cans, the behavior can lead to more gruesome incidents than the viral ones. The zombie apocalypse was foreseen a long time ago; the difference is that the smombies are not out looking for brains, but rather likes and re-tweets.

There are a lot of commercials on-line that show the dangers of texting and driving. And all of them are trying to shock the audience by showing just how much of an impact the behavior can have on an individual’s life.

There is one showing a girl texting her boyfriend that she can’t wait for him to get home. She then proceeds on asking him where he is and when he estimates he’ll arrive. But her messages are appearing on a blood stained phone on the asphalt next to a car.

It may look and sound horrifying, but that is what happens when you text and drive. And even though it’s hard to believe, the same outcome may be in check for those who text while walking.

True story, a girl was walking home, paying attention to her mobile device. While texting, liking and retweeting she started crossing a railway. The train conductor tries to warn her with audio signals that the train is approaching, but the music blasting in her earphones is not helping his case.

Because she never bothered to look to her left and right, she is hit by the train and dies instantly. This is one of the hundreds of deaths that could have been avoided if the victim would have lifted his or her eyes from the mobile device.

German authorities are seeing so many accidents related to walking while texting that they even invented a new name for the smartphone cradling people, smombies. They’re smartphone zombies, people that are refusing to lift their eyes from their device, walking around like the zombies from Evil Dead or Resident Evil.

And because there is a smombie apocalypse, the German authorities are trying to come up with new ways of protecting the technology addicts on the streets. To this end, they implemented a new traffic lights system for pedestrians.

Alongside the normal traffic lights, they added red and green lights on the pavement, where the texting generation can see them before walking into incoming traffic. It seems that the zombie apocalypse is upon us, but they don’t want our brains, just our virtual confirmation of their profound shallowness and lack of personality.

BY JOE HENNESSEY

Did you know?

Stop Cyberbullying Day #SCD2016

STOP CYBERBULLYING DAY - 17th June 2016

Ever fancied being a games designer?

In a high-octane exciting world where 'virtually' anything is possible, we join budding games creators Kiya and Toby as they discover there is more than you think to making computer games.

Presenter Alex Riley takes them to a big international games company to find out what is behind the console. With help from the professionals, the rookies bring their ideas to life and their game Kito Blaze is presented at a major gamers convention. However the question is, will Kiya and Toby still want to be games designers after they have been all over the workplace?

Find out more here