Six institutions have been selected for the Safer Internet School Grant (SISG), an initiative of the Flow Foundation which aims to promote internet safety in high schools.

The SISG was launched earlier this year as part of the Flow Foundation’s Connected & Protected online safety campaign. Schools were asked to submit a proposal on how they would promote internet safety to their student body with the opportunity to receive funding to implement their idea. Following an assessment of the submissions, the successful schools were Cumberland High, Kingston Technical High, St Hugh’s High, Wolmer’s Girls, Morant Bay High and St George’s College.

All the schools demonstrated creativity in their proposals which focused on topical themes such as cyberbullying, self-identity, online predators and breach of privacy. The proposals range from discussion panels to talent competitions and each school can access up to $250,000 for their project which must be implemented before the end of the school year.

LeVaughn Flynn, Flow’s Public Relations Manager, noted that the idea behind the SISG is to use peer-to-peer engagement to promote online safety.

“For the past several years, Flow has been driving the message of online safety. This year, we’re including more messengers and getting the students directly involved by collaborating with them to promote internet safety in their schools,” said Flynn.

“Teens are among the most vulnerable groups to online harm and this is a great opportunity for the students to express their creativity with powerful messages around an area of growing importance.”

As digital access improves, online safety remains a growing concern for young people. According to UNICEF, more than a third of children experience cyberbullying and about 80 per cent report feeling in danger of sexual abuse or exploitation online.

Flynn further added: “As the largest internet service provider to the island, Flow cares about the public’s online safety and one of the best ways individuals can stay safe is by being informed and taking personal responsibility, and this campaign helps us to achieve that.”

Connected and Protected is a year-long activity targeting all demographics on internet safety best practices. The Flow Foundation hosted a Youth Summit and Seniors’ Forum in February and will have an internet safety ambassador programme with several primary schools across the island in May. Further activities are also planned later in the year for parents and senior citizens.