Everyone Must Watch: The Cyberbully (2015)

Some of you may know that while I was at Microsoft I volunteered for an internet safety program called ThinkUKnow.

ThinkUKnow in Australia is based on the UK Police’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre’s ThinkUKnow program in the UK.

In Australia, the ThinkUKnow program is a partnership between the Australian Federal Police, Microsoft, Datacom and the Commonwealth Bank. It is delivered in collaboration with the State and Territory Police and Neighbourhood Watch Australasia.

Since leaving Microsoft, I was worried that I would not be able to continue being a volunteer presenter for the program. However, my fears were unfounded as the organisers were pleased to continue having me on the team.

The program is targeted at the parents, carers and teachers of school aged children and is designed to help make the adults aware of the risks and dangers associated with internet usage, so they can help protect their kids, with the aim of avoiding problems or knowing what to do when problems occur.

As a father and someone who has been in the computer industry since the internet was only at universities, I have seen many changes, most good, but some not so good, brought on by the use of the internet. Knowing the way that some people use the internet for criminal behaviour, scams, cyberbullying and sexual predation, makes me want to use my knowledge to help protect those at risk, and the ThinkUKnow program gave me the opportunity to do that.

On Thursday night the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Company) showed a TV movie called The Cyberbully. This is not the older US movie with the same name, but a new movie from the UK. It stars Maisie Williams, who you might know as Arya Stark from the Game of Thrones series. She shows her amazing talent in this movie as she is the main character and on screen for the entire sixty minutes.

After watching that movie, I said to my wife that everyone doing ThinkUKnow should watch the movie. However, I have changed my mind. I think EVERYONE. should watch it. I found it on the Tube of You, see below:

The Cyberbully 2015 (direct link)

If I can help just one kid avoid facing the sorts of issues raised in the movie, all the time I have volunteered would be worth it.

If you live in Australia and have kids at a school or are involved with a school in any way, suggest to them to go to the ThinkUKnow.org.au website and book a presentation.

If you want to watch more internet safety related videos please my playlist below:

WARNING: Some of the content in the videos is confronting.

• Internet Safety Videos

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David

This article was originally posted on http://www.winthropdc.com/blog.