ARTICLES: David Cameron: Safer Internet Day 'is a personal priority'

David Cameron has lent his support to Safer Internet Day, saying making sure parents are empowered enough to ensure their children’s safety online is a “personal priority” of his.

T he Prime Minister said: “It never ceases to amaze me how quickly children grasp new technology, cracking it instinctively to hunt down their favourite website. As a parent it can be daunting to keep up, and worrying to know that alongside the fun, games and educational sites there are dangers they need to be protected from.

“Safer Internet Day aims to address these concerns by empowering parents, helping them to understand the problems then arming them with the right tools to keep their children safe online. Getting this right is a personal priority for me. It's important to have a joined up approach across the industry to ensure the information parents need get through effectively.”

full article from "The Telegraph"

NEWS / PROJECTS: Underserved youth showcase their movie making prowess through 'Adobe Youth Voices'

Adobe Youth Voices (AYV), the signature philanthropic initiative by the Adobe Foundation celebrated the completion of six successful years of the program in India by screening over 22 short films made by children from the underserved community. Touching across a range of social topics like gender discrimination, education and corruption the short films highlighted issues that that are core to the hearts of these children.

Further, the foundation also announced the first ever Adobe Youth Voices Aspire Awards, a global online media festival honoring young people who creatively communicate their vision for change in their communities and their lives. Students aged 13-18 are invited to compete across eight sub-categories – animation, documentary, music video, narrative video, poetry-experimental video, audio, graphic design and photography and can submit their entries through an educator or mentor by April 20, 2012.

AYV is a partnership between the Adobe Foundation and the American India Foundation (AIF) and empowers youth to comment on their world using multimedia and digital tools to communicate and share their ideas, demonstrate their potential, and take action in their communities. The AYV global network includes more than 750 sites, grantees, and organizations, across 50 countries engaging over 150,000 youth and 8,200 educators in schools and out of school programs. In India, the program is currently operating in 70 sites reaching out to more than 3500 children and 84 educators across the country. The Adobe Foundation also announced scholarships worth Rs.125,000 for meritorious AYV students.

full article - Adobe Youth Voices website

EVENTS / NEWS: Ukrainian junior journalists promote 'nice television'

Kyiv, February 3 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Television needs to be improved, and this concerns not only Ukrainian television, organizers of a press conference entitled "Children's Media in Ukraine for Friendship or Aggression? Freedom of Speech and Responsibility" hosted by Interfax-Ukraine on Friday have said.

"I'm fighting all the time to start a children's channel with children's programs. Everyone should note that there are not only small children that watch cartoons, which are by the way very primitive - there are also such people as you [junior journalists] that want to watch their news, their TV programs, their films. There are many programs produced in Ukraine, but they are not shown on TV," said director, Birds children's media-studio leader and Open Policy Foundation member Olena Zelenska.

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EVENTS: Safer Internet Day 2012 (TURKEY)

At Insafe, we are always happy to hear of the work of third countries (i.e. those outside of the Insafe network of the 27 EU member states plus Iceland, Norway and Russia) in terms of their online safety actions. Here, we learn about a new safer internet service in Turkey… 

The Safer Internet Service project in Turkey has been launched to protect children and youth from harmful content on the internet. It is currently one of the most considerable projects in Turkey and, while developing the service, the regulation requests and complaints of internet users to the Information Technologies and Communication Agency have been taken in consideration. On 28 August 2011, following technical studies with relevant industries “principles and procedures concerning a safer internet service” was determined by the Turkish Information Technologies and Communication Agency.

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EVENTS: Panos London challenges film students to amplify voices

International development charity, Panos London is proud to be sponsoring the first London based international festival dedicated to student film. The Student Film Festival London (SFFL) 2012 runs 3-5th February and will be held at the London College of Communication. The three day event will offer students the opportunity to showcase their work and meet industry professionals.

As part of the festival events, Panos London is launching a 72-hour challenge for five student filmmakers to create a 3 minute short film around marginalised voices. The challenge will launch as part of the SFFL Opening Ceremony 2nd February 2012.

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