Safer Internet Day: Ellon and Hazlehead pupils help launch national online safety project

By Calum Petrie

February 7 2023, 6:00 am

Online security is a growing issue for youngsters, and school pupils are being taught to cope with the dangers.

Researchers from Robert Gordon University (RGU) are leading a new project to tackle online safety.

Launched today to coincide with Safer Internet Day, ‘Maddie is Online’ is set to benefit young people across Scotland.

The project, which included input from pupils at Ellon Academy and Hazlehead Academy, is specially created for youngsters aged nine to 12.

It centres around the everyday life of a fictitious pre-teen girl called Maddie, who experiences trouble online.

Featuring cartoon animations and storytelling resources, Maddie is Online has been rolled out to schools across the country. It offers workshops on the ethics of online safety and security, ethical hacking, and video gaming.

Young people facing ‘daily challenges online’

Project leader, Dr Konstantina Martzoukou, an associate professor at RGU’s School of Creative and Cultural Business, explained more.

“We wanted to create resources to engage young people, particularly pre-teen children, to manage their digital lives.

“Unfortunately, many young people navigate daily challenges such as online bullying, personal security and managing their online reputation.

“Our resources empower young people so that they can develop technical and behavioural strategies to safeguard themselves online.”

A competition for S1 and S2 pupils was held as part of the project. Pupils were asked to create a short story, of around 500 words, on the ‘Ethics of online safety and security’.

Five stories have been shortlisted for the final from three schools across Scotland. They will be developed into animations for the ‘Maddie is Online’ series, with the winner announced in the spring.

Ellon Academy pupils Adrijana Pavlovic, Cara Mallarkey, Chloe Lawrence, Ruaridh Gordon and Sam McBain took part in the project.

Ellon and Hazlehead pupils leading the way

The shortlist includes entries from Ellon Academy and two from Hazlehead Academy.

Ellon Academy’s principal teacher of digital learning, Ewan Armstrong, said: “Our pupils have really engaged with ‘Maddie is Online’ and put some fantastic thinking into the development of their story.

“Their story is very mature in its content while also being unfortunately very real for many children – befriending people online who turn out to not be who they thought they were.

“Our pupils have handled this in very sensitive ways, showing great maturity and creativity in their thinking. They have fully engaged with the ethos of the topic and considered carefully how the character of Maddie could in fact represent many of their peers.”

Hazlehead Academy pupil Yixin Jiang also took part in the project.

She said: “It has been a very interesting experience to see my story come to life.

“I enjoyed collaborating with my classmates and I think it’s important for more people to know how to stay safe online.”

‘Maddie is Online’ has also been endorsed by the Queens Nursing Institute Scotland and the School and Public Health Nurses Association (SAPHNA).

In an earlier project, funded by the Scottish Library & Information Council and RGU’s Innovation Accelerator, the project team worked with children to create resources centred around online resilience, misinformation and copyright, with the aim of improving young people’s understanding of online pitfalls.