CGMS – The Duke of Cambridge
Wednesday 6th December 2017
The Duke of Cambridge gave a much heralded Keynote at CGMS. Full video is available here.
Security was tight around the halls of Manchester Central - the Summit conference centre - and a crowd gathered outside to welcome the Duke and Duchess as they arrived to provide the Summit movement with its first ever taste off royal patronage.
The Duke was there to represent his anti-bullying charity and to talk about the work it's doing to tackle online abuse and hate. The Duke gave a thoughtful and well constructed speech, which was in some ways at its most interesting when he talked of his own experience and concerns as a parent, and in talking to parents for whom the internet has become a mater of significant concern.
He said that he was “alarmed” that so many parents have to make up the rules as they go along. There being so little coordinated guidance for them or media literacy help for kids.
Cyberbullying was, he said, simply an age-old problem allowed by technology to grow and be amplified.
He felt that the combined experience and insight of the media professionals at the Summit could tackle these issues.
Alice Webb, Director of Children's and the North at the BBC followed up the Duke's speech with an announcement that the Corporation has taken up the challenge of creating a single tool which allowed kids to report bullying wherever they experience it.
She showed a striking video of kids from a Leeds school simply reading out real messages sent online which illustrated how extreme and affecting some online bullying can be - their reactions to messages which ch were not even aimed at them - they were simply the readers for the purpose of the video - were the best testimony to how disturbing online abuse can be.
Alice showed a promo video for their new 'Own It' website for 9-12s. “Be the boss of your online life” is the strapline. The site is designed to be less about what not to do, but rather about positive models of what to do.
CGMS – Andy Burnham Keynote CGMS – Taking Stock