St Hugh’s High, one of six schools that successfully pitched for the Connected and Protected Safer Internet School Grant (SISG), effectively used the creative arts to promote online safety amongst its students for its recent project implementation.

Using art, dance, posters and an avant-garde fashion show, the students and teachers artistically translated the importance of online safety and technology during their project display on June 8 at St Hugh’s.

Launched earlier this year in recognition of Safer Internet Day, the Flow Foundation used the SISG to collaborate with high schools across the island to help develop a culture of online safety in the schools. This is imperative as teens are among the most vulnerable online audiences with many students experiencing cyberbullying or at risk of being victimized by online predators.

To spread the awareness, St Hugh’s created a campaign called #ISAFESWAN with the tagline ‘Chat it. Check it. Post it.’ The campaign invited students from grades 7-10 to produce various artistic items that reflected their concerns around online safety and the path of digital technology.

LeVaughn Flynn, Flow’s Public Relations Manager, lauded the work of St Hugh’s and noted that the objective is to create peer-to-peer reinforcement of internet safety messaging.

“Online safety is an increasing need for everyone who uses the internet, and this is especially true for teens. To support the work done by the Flow Foundation around Safer Internet Day each February, we wanted to get the students directly involved in actively driving the awareness and using their own voices and creativity to amplify the messages,” noted Flynn.

St Hugh’s principal, Andrea Bryan Hughes, added, “The school appreciates the importance of online safety and the need for our students to be informed around this very important issue. Online safety is integral for the academic and personal development of our young ladies and we seized this opportunity provided by the Flow Foundation to communicate best practices while also creating an avenue for creative expressions.”

Along with St Hugh’s, Cumberland High, St George’s College, Morant Bay High, Kingston Technical High and Wolmer’s Girls were selected for the SISG after submitting their project proposals which were reviewed by a multi-organisation panel. Each school received funding of up to $250,000 to implement their project.

The Connected and Protected online safety programme is a multi-forum campaign by the Flow Foundation that impacts children, youths and seniors to promote better internet safety practices. There is a Safer Internet Monitor programme for primary schools that appoints internet safety ambassadors in each school; a Youth Summit that addresses some of the most pressing needs of teens; and there is also a Seniors’ Forum to ensure the elderly are also included.