Be Bold, Be Brave, Be Beautiful BUT Stay Safe Online!

The unique selling point of all of our programmes, but in particular our Wellbeing programmes is that we include a creative element that is directed by the young people in the group that we are working with.

It was instantly clear with our Teenage Girl’s Group at Boldon School that social media plays a huge part in their lives. After our first session with the girls, the first thing they did was set up a group chat! This is the positive element of social media, it gives them an instant means to connect and support each other. Nevertheless, as the sessions progressed, the issues linked to social media also emerged. The girls also loved the art sessions -rock painting and painting – so as a collective, we decided to combine the two and create a poster about stating safe online. This also coincided with Safeguarding Week!

Staying Safe Online

Realistically, we need to accept that being online is an element of all of our lives that is here to stay. Unfortunately, as the online facilities become more sophisticated, so do the scams. Making young people aware of just how common scams are, and how convincing, is an essential element so their personal education. They are very confident in this environment, but they also need to be aware of the many pitfalls.

Is there enough advice for Young People?

We recently did a session with some older people about financial scams, but this also made us question whether there is enough advice out there for young people. Young people are potentially overconfident – and this could be dangerous for them. The online world changes so quickly, it can be hard to keep up! We are not convinced there is enough support for them out there.

Conversations are important

Our sessions with the girls gave us an opportunity to discuss the positives and the negatives, and we hope that having such conversations act as trigger warnings for them within the context of their online activities. Having the face to face discussions was significant because in many ways they are more confident online, so having such conversations in front of each other – and us- gave them a better and more realistic perspective on some of the things that they have experienced.

Their Message

Hang established some rules for them – they have created a poster that we cab share with others. Be Bold, Be Brave, be Beautiful BUT Stay Safe Online!

Thank You

Thank you to the staff and students at Boldon School, and to the Shears Foundation for funding the programme.