In conjunction with ‘11 MILLION Takeover Day’, Childnet swapped the board room for the ‘Immersive Theatre’ and the ‘Creative Lab’ at the Futurefocus rooms in the heart of Westminster, trading Childnet staff for Childnet networkers – twelve energetic and enthusiastic young people itching to share their thoughts on the Internet.
Meeting in the Department for Business’s (BERR) Futurefocus rooms, the new team of Childnet networkers were inducted, initiated and immersed in a range of activities thinking about technology and the Internet now, in the past, in the future.
Childnet networkers act as a youth advisory board, helping to set the direction for Childnet and Childnet’s activities. This first meeting of a new group of networkers was purposefully set up to coincide with 11 MILLION Takeover Day to signify Childnet’s commitment to including children and young people in Childnet’s decision making processes.
Facilitated by Childnet staff, the networkers took the lead in discussing key elements of Childnet’s work, contributing to the development of an interactive game, thinking about policy formulation – in particular Internet gaming and the rating of such games, together with reviewing the plans for the redevelopment of the Childnet Kidsmart website to ensure it remains attractive to young people.
Alongside sharing their thoughts, dreams and visions for the Internet and shaping the direction of Childnet’s work the networkers gained insight into the process behind the development of a website, how games were made and ensured that Childnet’s work stays relevant to young people today.
Ellen Coen Childnet’s Schools Manager said,
“It was fantastic to use the Futurefocus rooms to help inspire our networkers with the use of interactive whiteboards, laptops, movies and all the great facilities they have. The ideas and the contributions that our networkers came up with will really help drive our work forward and I’m pleased that we could tie this vital bit of Childnet’s work in with 11 Million Takeover Day. Any other wannabe networkers out there – do get in touch with me! ”
“I liked the part when we wrote comments about the pictures for the game on the boards because it was good fun trying to complete something that will be put on the website and that I’d actually done it.” Matthew, Year 7
“The bit I really liked was when we did the quiz and walked around the room writing on the walls about the game that you were going to put on the internet, is there another chance that we can do this again?” Priscilla, Year 7
Childnet is committed to running 3 networker panels a year to give children and young people the opportunity to have their say in Childnet’s decision making so that they are kept at the heart of Childnet’s work, and their thoughts and concerns are reflected in all of Childnet’s activities.
Childnet will shortly be recruiting nationally to add to the networkers panel. If you are interested in becoming a networking you can contact Ellen by email at [email protected]
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For more information about Childnet and the networkers panel contact the Childnet Office on 0207 639 6967
For more information about 11 Million follow this link
For more information about Futurefocus rooms follow this link
