Amplifying Child Safety Online
Your digital life. Your choices. Your rights.
Between 2024 – 2026, we partnered with the NSPCC to amplify young people’s voices and experiences, working to improve child safety online in Scotland.
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At the heart of the project were 10 young people, our Digital Safety Ambassadors – passionate advocates ensuring that decisions and policies made to protect children and young people’s right to be safe online reflect real-life experiences and opinions. Alongside the project being led by our Digital Safety Ambassadors, we also ran insight-gathering and co-design workshops with young people throughout Scotland.
What young people want to see
Young people have created calls to action urging adults and decision-makers in government, education, business, and community settings to protect children and young people’s right to online safety.
Explore more:
1: Online safety
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You have the right to feel safe online.
- You don’t owe anyone your data, your time, or your attention
- If something feels wrong, trust that feeling and speak out
- You can block, report, and walk away
Talk about what’s happening online. With friends. With people you trust. Reach out to Childline – online, on the phone, anytime.
childline.org.uk/kids | 0800 1111
You have the right to privacy.
Your name, your address, your school, your photos, your passwords, your location – this is your personal information, and you have the right to keep it to yourself.
- You get to decide what you share and when. No one has the right to pressure you for personal information.
- If someone asks for personal details, you have the right to say no. Trust your instincts if something feels off.
- Keep your passwords private. Noone has the right to this information, not even your friends.
- Remember, once you share online, it could reach people beyond who you intended.
2: AI and Learning
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AI can be brilliant. It can also be brilliantly wrong.
Before you trust it, ask yourself:
- How can I fact-check what I am being told?
- What am I using AI for – to understand something or just to get an answer?
- Does AI know when it’s wrong? (Spoiler: it doesn’t)
Use it as a tool to help you learn, not instead of learning.
Talk about what’s happening online. With friends. With people you trust. Reach out to Childline – online, on the phone, anytime.
childline.org.uk/kids | 0800 1111
What can AI do – and what can only you do?
| AI can write essays. | You can think about what matters and why. |
| AI can give you an answer. | You can work out what questions are worth asking. |
| AI can sound certain about everything. | You can be honest about what you know and what you don’t. |
3: Misinformation
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Just because it’s viral doesn’t mean it’s true
- That shocking post.
- That scary headline.
- That too-good offer.
Talk about what’s happening online. With friends. With people you trust. Reach out to Childline – online, on the phone, anytime.
childline.org.uk/kids | 0800 1111
Before you believe it or share it, you’ve got the power to pause and look closer:
- Millions of shares don’t make something real.
- Strong emotions don’t mean it’s accurate.
- Your friend sharing it doesn’t mean they checked it.
- It’s okay to question things.
- You can search and fact-check what you are seeing.
4: Online bullying
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Young people think online bullying:
- Seriously affects wellbeing
- Should be taken more seriously
- Has consequences that aren’t always visible
Talk about what’s happening online. With friends. With people you trust. Reach out to Childline – online, on the phone, anytime.
childline.org.uk/kids | 0800 1111
Young people need to be meaningfully involved in discussions about how to tackle online bullying, to make sure our views are listened to and our right to safety is respected.
“I would say some of the worst of [online bullying] is on gaming… a lot of people think about social media, I think a big part of it is online gaming.”
Young person in 2025 workshop
5: Social media and body image
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Young people think social media:
- Can help find community
- Can also set unrealistic expectations
Talk about what’s happening online. With friends. With people you trust. Reach out to Childline – online, on the phone, anytime.
childline.org.uk/kids | 0800 1111
Young people want to see more support for positive online communities, and more moderation on social media to reduce the harmful messages we see online.
“There are things that can be helpful in how people see themselves in social media… like people can see community in social media and find people they like and can understand them. But it can also… spread really unrealistic views of what you should be that just don’t make sense and that are unachievable and they’re really unhealthy.”
Young person in 2025 workshop
Mind yer time
Mind Yer Time is a digital resource which helps children and young people use screens and social media in a healthy way. The Scottish Youth Parliament developed this Scottish Government-funded project in partnership with the Children’s Parliament.
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Read more about the project:
Visit the website:
External resource library
Our curated library covers all five topic areas and provides existing resources and information to help young people and adults support children’s online safety.
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Questions about our online safety work?
Contact our Participation and Programmes team at engagement@syp.org.uk