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New online safety resources launched for young deaf people and those with special educational needs

Vulnerable children are being taught how to stay safer online thanks to two new educational films and teaching resources, launched today by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre – the UK’s national centre for child protection.

The resources have been created by CEOP in the recognition that vulnerable young people and those with additional needs and learning difficulties can be more susceptible to abuse*,making the provision of online safety messages in a variety of formats especially important.

Specialist child protection agencies and organisations who work with children with additional needs, learning difficulties and deaf young people, including the NSPCC, Mencap, the National Deaf Children’s Society and Triangle, have worked with the CEOP Centre to create two new films – ‘Know Your Friends with Josh and Sue’ - for young people with special educational needs and learning disabilities and ‘Sam’s Real Friends’ - for young deaf people. Although previous CEOP educational films have been subtitled, this is the first time such resources have been created specifically relating to online safety for children with additional needs.

‘Know Your Friends with Josh and Sue’ is a five minute- long animated film depicting two friends who are the victims of cyberbullying and inappropriate contact online. Three versions of the animation have been created to cater for children of all needs and these include mild to moderate, moderate to severe and audio only.

‘Sam’s Real Friends’ is a longer film and concentrates on a young boy who experiences the same issues of cyberbullying and inappropriate contact online All actors use British Sign Language and there are also two versions of the film available, subtitled and non-subtitled. Accompanying lesson plans and suggested activity sheets are also available for each resource, allowing teachers and parents to work through the films with children in their care.

Helen Penn, CEOP’s Head of Education explains:

 “The internet opens up the world to all young people and even more so for those who are especially vulnerable, allowing them to connect with friends and family in ways they can’t in the real world.

“These new resources have been designed to help children and young people who are deaf or who have additional needs to understand issues such as stranger danger and how to keep their personal information protected, in ways that are relevant to them. I would like to thank all agencies and young people who have been pivotal in the creation of these new films and encourage parents and teachers to become even more involved in their children’s lives by using them”.

Denise Driscoll, ICT Curriculum Leader at Meadowfield School which is a Profound, Severe & Complex Needs (PSCN) School explains: “We were fortunate to be able to pilot CEOP’s new resources for our E-Safety day in June 2010. The younger children enjoyed the interactivity of the ticks and crosses resource and we were able to link this with the animation ‘Know Your Friends with Josh &Sue’. This resource really captured the attention of our children from Key Stage 2 through to our 16-19 year old students.

“I was particularly impressed with the ‘Sam’s Real Friends’ resource which focused on the dangers of giving out personal details and later sparked discussion and reflection among some of our Key Stage 3&4 youngsters”.

NSPCC head of strategy and development for disabled children David Miller said: "It's vital that all children and young people know how to stay safe online, and how to get help if they need it.

"These new CEOP films bring to life the do's and don'ts of using the internet and social media, using scenarios that children and young people can relate to. The films should prove useful to any professional teaching online safety to children and young people who are deaf, or have learning difficulties."

* Children with any type of disability are 3.4 times more likely to suffer some type of abuse compared to children without disabilities, Sullivan and Knutson, 2000