Respected and Safe
Why is it so important that the views of children at 10 schools in Aberdeen are listened to by OFCOM, the Scottish Government and the UK Government?
For the past 3 years CyberSafe Scotland have had an incredibly rare opportunity to work with learners from 10 primary schools from 2 Local Outcome Improvement Plan Areas in Aberdeen. No other project that we are aware of has been able to work with children of this age in this depth around their online experiences, and it is a great privilege to be working to raise awareness of the experiences of these children to support others.
During this time, we have learned from and supported many children who first had access to mobile devices during the pandemic, and whose digital lives adapted accordingly. We are also now supporting their experiences as developments around AI and the Online Safety Act change the landscape around them further.
Thanks to the support of our amazing partner schools, we have been able to develop a model that puts the creation of safe spaces for listening to the children about their experiences at the heart of building an effective response to online safety. Seeking to keep pace with developments as the children experience them helps safeguard them in the context of their communities, friendship groups and families. These are just some of the reasons why is Respected and Safe uniquely important at this time.
It is a very rare privilege to have the opportunity to develop this level of understanding around the learners’ experiences online, particularly as they relate to online harm. And it allows us to see trends and changes across important areas of the digital landscape and the physical City the children are in. As the project continues to develop we are continually exploring how to use this knowledge to provide evolving and deepening support for parents and staff, and to support other agencies and services.
It is also vital that the voices of these children are heard around the design of the products and applications they use. A small but important part of the project is now actively advocating for the children to both Ofcom and the Scottish Government for safer design.
OFCOM Workshop - 22nd April 2025
OFCOM Workshop to discuss their Violence Against Women and Girls Guidance for Platforms
In the last year we have attended workshops with Ofcom to share the children’s experiences online – both in the context of Violence Against Women and Girls and harmful content experienced by children. We have also represented them on the National Community of Practice that was founded by the Scottish Government in January 2025 to prevent tech facilitated violence, and the National Police Scotland Multi Agency Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Committee, as well as to the local Child Protection Committee.
Throughout the year, we have consistently seen the importance of raising their voices, as we are able to share direct examples of patterns in their experiences, that facilitate different levels of discussion about the experiences of children of their ages and backgrounds. This is especially impactful because we have been able to provide a consistency of support for this age group of children for a number of years now, and because of the opportunity we have had to combine targeted and universal support within the same model.
Our great thanks go to all of our partner schools for sharing this work with us. To find out more about examples of things we have learnt from the children recently, click here.
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