Child rights organisation, ChildFund launch global online safety app

(Sydney, Australia).  In the countries in which ChildFund Australia works, the digital transformation of children’s lives has presented acute risks such as scams, cyberbullying, online grooming, and sexual, sexist, racist, or violent content. ChildFund has responded with the creation of the Swipe Safe program and app. The app serves to immediately strengthen children’s knowledge, skills and behaviours keeping them safe online. Swipe Safe has been beta tested in five separate phases, directly involving face-to-face training and app testing with tens of thousands of children in Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Fiji and the Solomon Islands. The organisation has now teamed up with the Boys and Girls Brigade to launch the app in Australia. They have also been testing the app with families at the Girls and Boys Brigade who have provided local insights into the app. Stephanie Fett the Family Support Coordinator at the Boys and Girls Brigade spoke about how technology is transforming the lives of families the centre supports. “We’re seeing young people using phones from about eight years on and they haven’t developed that rational thinking until they reach 24 or even 25 [years of age]. So they are really unaware of the risks online, the natural reaction of parents is to take the phone away. This however struggles to build trust and openness with the parent making it exceedingly more difficult for them to protect their children online.” “Parents need to work to build an open online relationship with children so they are comfortable with talking about their experiences online. The Swipe Safe app is a great tool to help facilitate this communication” [insert link to swipe safe].” Sandy and Ramond utilise the support of the Girls and Boys Brigade and have been using the app to help create a great understanding online safety. “The app is really good in that it teaches kids to ask for help if they see something bad,” said Sandy. ChildFund Chief Development Officer Corinne Habel was thrilled to launch the app in Australia and bring the insights that they have learned in overseas to home soil. “The Swipe Safe app is a unique online safety app that has been developed by global child protection specialists. Reports indicate that the volume of child sexual abuse material has increased by

87% in the last 5 years SwipeSafe helps parents, caregivers, children and young people navigate an increasingly risky online space.  The online world is an exciting place for children to learn, play and connect, and we need to give them the tools to stay safe and understand and feel comfortable reporting harmful situations.