CyberSafeKids invites all schools and families in Co. Longford to take a ‘CyberBreak’

CyberSafeKids, Irelands online safety charity have officially launched their fifth annual CyberBreak.

CyberBreak is a drive that encourages families across the county to take a 24-hour digital detox. 

The National initiative will be taking place on Friday, 18 October from 5pm. 

CyberSafeKids is encouraging all schools, families and companies across the country to completely ditch their smart devices and screens and take a 24-hour break from the online world.

In this increasingly online world children are getting their first smart device at a younger and younger age.  94% of 8-12 year olds own a smart device, and 82% have their own account on a social media platform. 

Taking a CyberBreak gives families an opportunity to assess how much time they spend online, and how they can find a healthy balance between their online and offline lives as well as making it a fun-filled and memorable day for the whole family. Over 12,000 people have already signed up to take a CyberBreak this year. 

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Schools and families can access multiple resources, when they sign up at the CyberSafeKids Website.

These resources are structured to help all participating enjoy their day, unplugged.

‘Left To Their Own Devices’, a recently published report from CyberSafeKids found that a quarter (25%) of primary school children from aged 8 to 12 and 21% of secondary school children aged 12 to 14 have been victim to harmful content such as scams, harassment, horror, and sexual material online. 

For 8 to 12 year olds the platforms this most commonly occurred on were Youtube and Roblox.

Secondary school children in the 12 to 14 bracket face the most harmful content on Snapchat and TikTok.

Only 43% of primary school children have reported having a ‘mostly positive’ experience online in the last year. 

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To help balance online and offline life CyberSafeKids have 6 steps:

1. Try to make sure that your phone is not the first thing that you look at in the morning. Make it an active choice to do something else - stretching, meditating, eating breakfast.
2. Avoid using your phone as an alarm clock (there are plenty of alternatives) and try to keep phones, iPads, laptops, etc. out of the bedroom so your device use doesn’t interfere with your sleep.
3. Try and make mealtimes, especially if it's with children, a device-free time.
4. Actively decide what you consider to be ‘time well spent’ online. If it’s not endlessly scrolling through social media, then make a deliberate effort to limit it.
5. Switch on the "do not disturb mode" on your phone so you won't receive notifications, messages, or calls for periods of time when you need to focus or switch off.
6. Create a family agreement that everybody signs up to, which has identified device-free times e.g., family movie/pizza nights on a Friday.