We are delighted to announce that the second of our internet safety roadshows held at Crewe Alexandra Football Club on Thursday 28th January 2016 was another outstanding success!  

 

The Barney and Echo Internet Safety Roadshow took place at Gresty Road yesterday where pupils from 30 schools participated in a number of interactive educational presentations and activities. 

 

At the club’s Carlsberg Lounge children were treated to a range of games and talks with the aim of better educating and encouraging them to talk to their parents about how they use the internet. Pupils also got to meet Crewe Alexandra manager, Steve Davis, who presented competition winning children with signed footballs and match tickets for all. 

 

Liz Stanton MBE from Cheshire Police was just one of the online experts on-hand to explain to children the dangers of gaming, social media and keeping personal details secure. 

 

PC Stanton praised the event: “Events like these bring together children so that they can learn from the experts and each other about keeping safe online. The internet is a fantastic place, it’s a whole new world and a great learning tool as long as everybody fully understands the safety implications". 

 

Mrs Helen Procter is the head teacher at the Meadows Primary School, Crewe and explained why she had brought children to the event. 

“Online safety is the greatest threat to children of modern times,” she said. 

“It’s something we’re not prepared for, and certainly many parents aren’t. So many of our children are on Instagram and Facebook, but they don’t understand the implications at all.” 

“This is a great event because the children can cascade the information back to the school.” 

 

Bethany Starkey, 10, attends Meadows Primary School and said: “I use the internet for homework and to find things. I’m so happy to be here. This (roadshow) helps children learn the dangers of the internet.” 

 

Joel Thompson, also 10, added: “I use the internet to play games, my favourite is FIFA. It’s important to understand internet safety as people can get your passwords and take your information. So it’s important to learn how to be safe.” 

 

Mrs Michelle Cotton is a teaching assistant at Sandbach Primary Academy and said: “Online safety is very important to us at our school. Many of the children use the school website and their Xboxs, ipads and their Kindles. They’ve learnt such a lot at this roadshow.” 

 

As well as interactive presentations from Cheshire Police there were also talks from a range of online safety experts including eCadets, One Day Creative and Discovery Education. Exhibitors on the day included Schools Broadband, Just2Easy, Chatfoss and Brain Pop UK. 

 

Henry Platten is from eCadets and underlined the importance of the event: “The internet can be a dangerous place for children if they haven’t got the skills and the resilience to be able to read a situation and keep themselves safe and that’s what it’s all about.” 

 

The next Barney and Echo Internet Safety Roadshow will take place at Wigan Athletic Football Club on February 25th 2016.