Bringing online safety training to Irish schools with Barnardos
As a parent, I know how challenging it is to keep up with everything that your children are doing on their laptops, tablets and mobile phones every day. It’s more important than ever that we learn about issues like cyberbullying and the effects of children spending a lot of time online. At Google, we’re finding ways to help children make smart choices and protect themselves online, and helping parents find the right balance for their families.
Today, at an event in Dublin with Ireland’s Minister for Education and Skills, Joe McHugh, TD, our CEO, Sundar Pichai, unveiled a €1 million Google.org grant for online safety training with Irish children’s NGO Barnardos. The grant will help Barnardos bring it’s Online Safety Programme workshops to more than 75,000 Irish children over the next four years.
Barnardos Online Safety Programme provides interactive classes for children and young people, teachers, parents and professionals on internet safety and cyberbullying. One of the goals is to promote ongoing communication between children and adults on these topics.
We’ve also created an online resource for parents, children and teachers called Be Internet Legends, which is now available to everyone in Ireland. The program provides teaching resources, family guides and interactive online games, all focused on the five fundamentals of an Internet Legend: being sharp, alert, secure, kind and brave.
We recognize our responsibility as a company to ensure that the internet is accessible and used in a positive way. Through this program and the rollout of Be Internet Legends, we intend to make the internet a safer place for young people in Ireland and around the world.
