Digital Champions

We currently have three Digital Champions who underwent an application process to be selected as our youth representative board. The Digital Champions help the Childnet Digital Leaders team to ensure that the programme is youth led. They represent a youth voice which is essential to the programme’s success and support us with module development, content creation, events and consultation, as well as representing the programme in the wider online safety community.

Applications are now open to join our group of Digital Champions for 2023-24! You can find more information in the Information and Application pack including the application form and parent/carer consent forms. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at leaders@childnet.com.

In July of 2023, Digital Leaders from the primary and secondary programmes submitted questions for the Digital Champions to answer about the role they play and about online safety in general. Watch the video below to see how they responded!

Click on the photos below to learn more about our inspiring Digital Champions!

Cosima

Cosima

What I like doing best online:

My favourite thing to do online is probably either watching YouTube or Netflix or doing BuzzFeed quizzes!

What I like doing offline:

When I’m not on my phone (or any device!) I like to walk my puppy in the fields or park or go on a zip wire with my friends.

What I hope to achieve as a Digital Champion:

As a Digital Champion, one of my main aims is to help people to identify what’s an online trap and what isn’t as it’s a rarely touched-on topic on its own so I personally think it should be addressed.

My top online safety tip:

Be careful what you say online as once it’s out there you can never take it back, believe me!

Dominik

Dominik

What I like doing best online:

I like gaming online.

What I like doing offline:

Offline, I like travelling.

What I hope to achieve as a Digital Champion:

In Digital Champions, I hope to achieve safety online and to help companies build their security software to higher demand.

My top online safety tip:

My safety tip is to ignore other people who talk with you online and talk to your friends that you know in real life.

Jayden

Jayden

What I like doing best online:

Online, I love listening to music on my phone. It helps me to de-stress, especially after a long day at school! I like researching information about past gaming consoles and the evolution of computers, and I am good at designing PowerPoints. If I had to pick one app to keep in my life, it would almost certainly be PowerPoint as the possibilities are endless and you can create cool animations, where objects move around a page, to engage listeners and make information stand out. I watch videos online to achieve new goals and learn new things, which help me develop as a person!

What I like doing offline:

At school, I am a part of the Tech Team, working in various places to ensure quality and immersion in all areas, such as in productions at a local professional-grade theatre, sound and lighting in our newly-built Performance Space, and setting up and using PA systems, alongside many other technical roles. I am also a Peer Mentor, which involves me going to a form group of younger children in the school with two other Peer Mentors, where we are the support for the form tutor and a friendly face for the younger new entrants to the school.

What I hope to achieve as a Digital Champion:

My goals as a Digital Champion with Childnet are to educate myself on Online Safety to an extent where I am able to confidently assist with teaching many people: this is not just other children, but advise adults and important individuals on how us young people feel on certain situations, and how we would want a scenario to be handled or amended to represent us in a positive light, not just in front of one business, but on a wider scale, both nationally and internationally. I also would love to be able to build a better future for all young people, including generations to come, and keep both national and global organisations on their toes with regards to updating acts protecting young people online.

My top online safety tip:

My top online safety tip is to always talk to someone you trust, whether it be a teacher, parent, or any other trusted adult, if something worrying happens to you on the web. It is essential for the wellbeing of anyone to talk to others, and a statement I like to use is “A problem shared is a problem halved,” as this is a reminder of the fact that no matter how old you are, how wise you are or how independent you seem, you’ll never be able to live life without somebody to lean on.