MSN Launches New Child Safety Site 06 May 2004
MSN announced today the launch of its new child safety site designed by teens
for teens to help them understand the importance of safe surfing on the Internet.
The launch of the new site at www.websafecrackerz.com builds
on the closure of MSN chat rooms in the UK last year, underlining MSN’s
ongoing commitment to making the web a safer place.
Childnet is one of a number of charities (including the Cyberspace Research Unit, NSPCC and Childline) to work on this 6 month long project to help shape the content of WebSafeCrackerz.com, a website developed for the 13-16 year old Internet user.
The new site is presented as a game where the user has to unlock a virtual safe to get a reward by answering questions. The content covers every aspect of 'risk' associated with surfing the Internet in an interactive and engaging way. It asks the young user what they should do in certain situations, it requires practical thinking and immediate action and mirrors many of the dangers that children face in the offline world, helping them understand the online nuances. For example, bullying using the Internet has different implications than offline bullying, in that the ‘cyberbully’ can be anonymous and also can reach you anytime anywhere,(rather than just the school playground). The site also recognizes that young people can often be the perpetrator of abuse or cybercrimes such as sending viruses, abusive chat, hacking, gambling, and the illegal copying of software or other copyrighted material.
Mary Louise Morris of Childnet’s Awareness and Education officer said,
"This was an extremely exciting project to work on since it has been a collaboration of people and organisations with very different specialisms, including the young people who we consulted. The result is a website with incredible scope and depth in terms of the areas it covers, which has harnessed the best of what is already out there, as well as introducing new and innovative material never before presented on a website to young people."
Stephen Carrick-Davies , CEO of Childnet said,
"It is very important that companies such as MSN play an active part in helping young people use the internet responsibly and safely. The WebSafeCrackerz site is a practical, engaging resource which helps young users to think about a whole range of issues in a way which isn't patronizing or over simplistic but rather challenges them to think about the dangers and how they should behave online. Working with young people in the development of this resource has been crucial and we hope that it will be widely used both in the UK and elsewhere."
In conjunction with the websafecrackers website MSN volunteers will be trained in Childnet’s Kidsmart programme in order to run Internet safety session in primary schools.
Ends
For further information please contact: Mary Louise Morris marylouise@childnet-int.org