Online safety film competition for young people

Childnet, a partner in the UK Safer Internet Centre (SIC), has completed the 2019 Childnet Film Competition, which is delivered as part of their work for the UK SIC.

Date 2019-08-13 Author UK Safer Internet Centre Section awareness, youth

This year saw ten years of the Childnet Film Competition, where once again young people were provided a platform to share their thoughts and opinions about their digital world and create important educational films for their peers. The variety of submissions from a wide range of young people differing in age, region, ability and background demonstrates the inclusive and accessible nature of the project. As one of our winning school commented: "A once in a lifetime experience. We serve a disadvantaged catchment area and this process has been so beneficial for the children involved and their sense of achievement and self-confidence. We have seen them grow through the process".

The promotion of the competition started early in order to allow educators enough time to factor the project within their school calendar. In addition to this, Childnet promoted the competition on social media, Twitter ads, blog articles, through education school visits and via the network of supporters and followers.

The competition launched at the end of February and closed mid-June, with the award ceremony held at the British Film Institute (BFI) on Tuesday, 2 July 2019. The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) continued their support by classifying the finalist films and joined representatives from the BBC, BFI and British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to form the external judging panel. For the last two years, BBC Own It have supported the competition by showcasing the finalists' films on their platform.

The 2019 theme asked young people to think about the future of the internet. Childnet received 125 entries from across the country, from which six were selected as finalists. The top two winning films demonstrated thoughtful messaging, including kindness, acceptance and diversity. The final six films are available on childnet.com.

As a teacher whose class took part in the competition put it: "There is no such competition of this kind. I am delighted to have found this competition and will be back. My students have gone away with lasting memories, a great sense of achievement and a unique bond with their teammates."

Find out more information about the work of the UK Safer Internet Centre (SIC) generally, including its awareness raising, helpline, hotline and youth participation services, or find similar information for Safer Internet Centres throughout Europe.

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