{"id":853,"date":"2014-02-10T10:24:22","date_gmt":"2014-02-10T18:24:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/internetsafety.trendmicro.com\/?p=853"},"modified":"2014-02-10T10:24:22","modified_gmt":"2014-02-10T18:24:22","slug":"sid2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trendmicro.com\/internet-safety\/blog\/sid2014\/","title":{"rendered":"On Safer Internet Day, Focus on What To Do vs. Not Do"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"LynetteOwens_Trend_bw_edit\"<\/a>By Lynette Owens<\/p>\n

February 10, 2014<\/em><\/p>\n

Tuesday, February 11 is Safer Internet Day, a day when many organizations, governments, schools, individuals, and communities raise awareness and help educate the public on safe, responsible technology use.\u00a0 Although it has its roots in the EU and has been celebrated there since 2004, the 11th<\/sup> Safer Internet Day is being marked today in multiple countries worldwide. Here\u2019s a great map<\/a> to show you just how big it has gotten over the years.<\/p>\n

Each year, there is a theme for the day and it\u2019s interesting to see how the themes have changed over the years.\u00a0 They have largely reflected the newest technology and\/or concerns of the time.\u00a0 What is interesting, and what many of us in this field have witnessed over the years, is that there has been a dramatic shift in the messages. Early on, the focus was squarely on safety \u2013 and a heavy emphasis on risks and dangers of the Internet.\u00a0 In recent years, there has been a heavier emphasis on personal responsibility and participation in shaping our own and our communities\u2019 online experiences.\u00a0 A list of the themes since 2004 can be seen here<\/a>. In the past, themes have included topics like blogging, safe social networking, cyberbullying, and smart mobile phone use.\u00a0 This year\u2019s theme goes beyond any particular technology or even individual person\u2019s safety or risk.\u00a0 The theme is \u201cLet\u2019s create a better Internet together.\u201d<\/p>\n

To someone who\u2019s been in this field for years, it is a welcome shift.\u00a0 But to others, I realize it probably requires some explaining.\u00a0 This is more than just a feel-good message to rally around.\u00a0 Yes, we are tired of the negative, fear-based messages that some organizations feel is the only way to educate people on using technology in the best ways.\u00a0 But this is not just a reflex and rebellion against that.\u00a0 There is something much more practical and useful in believing that the path to an Internet where people can be free to create, consume, communicate, and connect requires something from all of us.<\/p>\n

Together is Better<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

There are many examples that support the concept of working as a community to make the Internet better, safer, more secure, or more productive.<\/p>\n

Take open source software like the Linux operating system.\u00a0 It\u2019s built and improved upon by thousands of developers working together.\u00a0 The fact that it\u2019s open makes it more transparent.\u00a0 When asked about the security and privacy of Linux<\/a> in light of global concerns of spying governments, executive director of the Linux Foundation, Jim Zemlin, replied \u201cThe whole world can see every line of code in Linux. This is one of the reasons Linux [and] open-source software overall is a safer than closed software. The transparency of the code ensures it\u2019s secure.\u201d<\/p>\n

In essence, there\u2019s a community of people who make sure it\u2019s safe and are constantly making it better.<\/p>\n

Or take bullying prevention. According to the Cyberbullying Research Center<\/a>, about 24% of kids have experienced bullying online and 16% have engaged in it.\u00a0 You can look at this and see the glass mostly empty or flip these numbers and recognize 76% of kids have never been bullied and 84% don\u2019t engage in it.\u00a0 The relevance of looking at the numbers this way is in the guidance that many bullying prevention experts give: help students, especially those who are not part of bullying in any way, create an environment where they can help stop it or prevent it \u00a0from thriving online in the first place.\u00a0 Stick up for someone on a Facebook page.\u00a0 Show kindness and support on Twitter.\u00a0 Empower them to respond as an online community where kindness trumps cruelty.<\/p>\n

There are more examples of how community action can result in a better Internet experience for us – too many to enumerate. \u00a0But like anything worth doing – raising a child, re-building a town, discovering a cure – it takes far more than one person to do it successfully.<\/p>\n

Teaching by Example<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

So the question beyond working as communities is, how do we teach this to others?<\/p>\n

In the US, there is finally a larger coordinated effort to celebrate Safer Internet Day, led by our friends at Connectsafely.org who were appointed the local hosts. \u00a0The campaign that they have created to support this year\u2019s SID theme is called One Good Thing<\/a><\/i>.\u00a0 They have called upon people across the country to share the good things they have done or seen others do online.<\/p>\n

This is a great interpretation of the larger global theme of creating a better Internet together.\u00a0 Much more happens online everyday but it\u2019s not written about.\u00a0 They don\u2019t end up in the headlines.\u00a0 They don\u2019t shock us.\u00a0 But it\u2019s important to give them a stage.\u00a0 By showcasing positive examples of how people use the Internet to do good things, we are teaching by example.\u00a0 Rather than telling kids what NOT to do, we\u2019re showing them what they can and should do.<\/p>\n

We recognized this need last year through our annual \u201cWhat\u2019s Your Story?\u201d youth video contest<\/a>.\u00a0 Each year, we asked contestants to focus their entries on a theme.\u00a0 Like Safer Internet Day, we focused on specific risks or technologies in past contests.\u00a0 This led contestants to focus on the negative, because we asked them to talk about risks.\u00a0 But on Safer Internet Day last year, we asked contestants in multiple countries: \u201cWhat does the good side of the Internet look like?\u201d\u00a0 The results were amazing and inspiring, and even though there was recognition of risks, it wasn\u2019t the entire focus of the videos.<\/p>\n

With the global attention to the positive side of the Internet and our belief that we need to teach kids how to use the Internet safely, responsibly and successfully through leading by example, we are excited to be supporters of Safer Internet Day.\u00a0 We ask that you join us in making this day and every day a reason to show kids how powerful the Internet is and that like any other tool that could be used for harm, it can also be used to do amazing things \u2013 for themselves or the world around them.<\/p>\n

WATCH<\/span> the Safer Internet Day US event LIVE in Washington DC<\/a> @ 9am US Eastern<\/p>\n

Or FOLLOW ME<\/span> on Twitter – I will be live tweeting from the event @lynettetowens<\/strong><\/p>\n

For more on tips and advice on online safety, media literacy, and digital citizenship, follow Lynette @lynettetowens or Trend Micro @TrendISKF<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today is Safer Internet Day, a day when many work to raise awareness and educate the public on safe, responsible technology use. <\/p>\n

This year\u2019s theme challenges us to recognize that making the Internet a place where people can be free to create, consume, communicate, and connect requires something from all of us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[7,8,47,6,16,5,48,25,10,57,109,110,111,88,12,67],"class_list":["post-853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-for-parents","category-for-teachers","tag-cyberbullying","tag-digital-citizenship","tag-digital-literacy","tag-education","tag-facebook","tag-internet-safety","tag-media-literacy","tag-online-privacy","tag-online-safety","tag-parents","tag-safer-internet-day","tag-sid","tag-sid2014","tag-social-media","tag-social-networking","tag-twitter","wpautop"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trendmicro.com\/internet-safety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trendmicro.com\/internet-safety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trendmicro.com\/internet-safety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trendmicro.com\/internet-safety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trendmicro.com\/internet-safety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.trendmicro.com\/internet-safety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trendmicro.com\/internet-safety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trendmicro.com\/internet-safety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trendmicro.com\/internet-safety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}