Young Advisors Logo
Whilst looking for ways to consult with Children and Young People I came across the ‘Young Advisors’. The Young Advisors are aged between 15 and 21; they show community leaders and decision makers how to engage young people in community life, regeneration and renewal.
There are various groups around the country, in the North West there are 3 set up – Knowlsey, Sefton and Wirral. Having looked at their websites I am keen to work with the Young Advisors, getting their opinions on the work that we are doing and getting a different insight in the projects. They offer various services from ‘youth proofing’ documents to consultation events with young people.
I believe that using the Young Advisors to engage with the CYP we are working with and learning from them how to set up a Youth Advisory Panel would be an invaluable experience; getting real opinions from real people.
Newsround has put together a special programme called Caught In The Web. It is all about staying safe on the Internet, it tells the story of a girl who gets into trouble after her virtual life in an online chat-room spills into the real world.
There are also real-life case studies with kids who’ve had bad experiences online, like a girl who was cyber bullied and a boy addicted to gaming.
The programme is narrated by former Doctor Who star David Tennant. Caught on the Web gives lots of tips on how to stay safe on the Internet, and highlights how important it is not to give out your personal details.
For more information click here
The results of the survey indicated that the majority of staff would prefer to have a booklet/leaflet resource.
The top subject that staff wanted to be included was a ‘guide to safeguarding children and young people’, with an ‘overview of social networking’, ‘risks and benefits of the internet’ and ‘security of details’ all close behind. (See pie chart).
I have decided the best way to present staff with this information is to produce an online newsletter complete with a Q&A section which can be accessed from the Intranet, the idea being that if the resource provokes any further questions, staff can submit queries which I will answer and publish.
I hope to send out the resource next week in conjunction with Safer Internet Day 2010.
