Recently we had the pleasure of hosting one of our Digital Leaders on work experience here at Childnet. We found out what Darcie enjoyed about her time at Childnet, and what she learnt from the experience.
During my Easter holidays, I was happy to have gone to Childnet for three days as work experience to see how the charity is run. Having been doing the Digital Leaders Programme for just under a year at school, I was already interested in Childnet and how it works to spread its positive message about the internet and to support teachers and students by providing PSHE resources and advice.
Throughout my work experience, I was able to see many different projects and lessons plans at work, such as a new set of videos for the ‘Crossing the Line’ PSHE Toolkit about subjects such as healthy relationships and body image, all of which were taken from a range of different characters and perspectives, and were based on what young people in schools from all around the country had said in focus groups. I think that creating these videos will be helpful to teachers and students to learn more about these subjects and how to cope if they cause problems in their lives. I really liked creating mood boards for three characters that were going to be in the PSHE Toolkit. I also made a survey on parent’s involvement in their children’s education in internet safety using friends’ and parents’ answers.
I especially enjoyed doing tweets about being a Digital Leader and giving advice on internet safety for both young people and their parents/carers, and having a meeting with Ricquel about the Digital Leaders’ community and how to improve it by adding new questions and revamping its look to encourage more Digital Leaders to benefit from its use. I also loved learning about Smartie the Penguin, who is also used to help teach young children about staying safe online. I think that this resource is amazing and would be really helpful when explaining internet safety to small children who generally would struggle to understand and I can’t wait to use it at my own school with younger students.
Overall, I really enjoyed my time at Childnet and the experience that I’ve gained within three days has been incredible. I’m still amazed at just how hard all of the team at Childnet work and the impact that this fairly small charity has on a huge amount of young people like me. Overall, I am so impressed at how many activities and resources Childnet has produced, and I hope that with charities like Childnet working with young people and adults alike the internet with be a safer and kinder place for the future.
