Internet Safety is to become a compulsory part of primary education in 2011 it has emerged today.
The campaign ‘Zip it, Block it, Flag it ’ intends to encourage children to not give out personal information on the web, block unwanted messages on social networks and report any inappropriate behaviour to the appropriate bodies. The campaign will used as an online ‘Green Cross Code’ which children and parents will follow to protects themselves online.
By starting the education at a young age, there will hopefully be less and less incidents as the children grow older and internet safety will become common practice.
As I have wrote about it an earlier blog, I have investigated setting up an email account for each Prince’s Trust student as part of the program. This is so they can use the e-mail account for applying for jobs , training or education as the accounts that some of the students are using now may not be suitable for professional use. I looked at Google Mail and decided it was the most suitable due to the ease of setting up an account and also so that the students can continue using the account after the course has finished.
Building upon this I have looked into the other applications that Google offers. One in particular is ‘Google Doc’s’. This offers users various software to create documents, spreadsheets and presentations free of charge as well as an online storage space.
I want to start looking into utilising these applications so that when the young people need to ammend or send their CV’s to someone, the CV is easily accessible and editing it is simple, espeically from access points other than home, such as libraries.
Youth Tech is a great blog I’ve been reading. It’s “a discussion about using technology in creative ways to enrich the lives of youth.” It’s an American site but has a lot of excellent resources in this area.
As we’re researching a range of services that are of relevance to the Youth Engagement community, we’ll be linking to them via this blog, in the hope that you find our research useful. We have recently been looking at national government initiatives in neighborhood policing, and community engagement.
Respect
http://www.respect.gov.uk/
The Government’s new Respect Initiative including “Youth Specific” information for communities and community workers. “Respect is about central government, local agencies, local communities and ultimately every citizen working together to build a society in which we can respect one another – where anti-social behaviour is rare and tackled effectively, and communities can live in peace together.”
Neighbourhood Policing
http://www.neighbourhoodpolicing.co.uk/
“Neighbourhood Policing is based on local priorities identified by local people as the issues that need to be dealt with in their area and Police and partners will work together to tackle them.”
Neighbourhood Renewal Unit
http://www.neighbourhood.gov.uk
“The Neighbourhood Renewal Unit (NRU) is responsible for overseeing the Government’s comprehensive neighbourhood renewal strategy. A strategy that responds to local circumstances rather than directs everything from Whitehall.”
Youth Justice Board
http://www.youth-justice-board.gov.uk/
“The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB) is an executive non-departmental public body. Our 12 board members are appointed by the Secretary of State for Justice. The YJB oversees the youth justice system in England and Wales. We work to prevent offending and reoffending by children and young people under the age of 18, and to ensure that custody for them is safe, secure, and addresses the causes of their offending behaviour.”
Safer School Partnership
http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/ete/ssp/
“Safer School Partnerships, where police are based in schools, take a joined-up approach to crime prevention, school safety, behaviour improvement and educational achievement.”
If you have more links you’d like us to include please let us know.
Commissioned by the UK Home Office, the Positive Futures Case Study Research Project focused on Positive Futures, a national sports based social inclusion programme.
“Positive Futures is a national sports based social inclusion programme aimed at marginalized 10-19 year olds in the most deprived neighbourhoods. Managed within the Home Office Drug Strategy Directorate and delivered locally by a range of agencies, including local authorities, charities, sports clubs and crime reduction agencies.”
The research is a great starting point for anyone wanting to find out more about sports and Social Inclusion.
