Thinkuknow
Summary
An advice website and a range of free educational resources that have been tailored for use children ages 4-17 including children with special educational needs. They provide age-appropriate information and advice to help prevent abuse and exploitation.
Type of intervention
Classroom setting – films and lesson plans
Thinkuknow websites
Target groups, level of prevention and subgroups
- Children and Young People (Victims) | Primary prevention | Young Children (0-5 years), Children (6-11 years), Young People (12-17 years) | Male and female | Internet/online | Classroom setting, online/app | Includes individuals with disabilities/learning difficulties | English
- Communities and Families | Secondary prevention | Young Children (0-5 years), Children (6-11 years), Young People (12-17 years) | Male and female | Internet/online | Classroom setting, online/app | Includes individuals with disabilities/learning difficulties | English
- Situations/Places | Internet/online | Classroom setting, online/app | English
Target population
Children aged four to 17 years, including those with special educational needs, their parents and carers and educators working directly with children and young people.
Delivery organisation
UK National Crime Agency, Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command (NCA CEOP)
Mode and context of delivery
Thinkuknow is the UK national online safety education programme from NCA CEOP, which aims to protect children and young people from sexual abuse and exploitation.
The programme offers free learning resources, advice and support for children and young people aged 4-18 years old and their families, and best practice guidance and professional development for the children’s workforce.
These resources include educational films, animations, games, activities, and lesson plans. They help children and young people to identify the online risks they may face, teaching them how to protect themselves and highlighting places to seek further support, including when and how to report concerns/illegal activity to CEOP.
Each resource is accompanied by guidance to help professionals to confidently explore difficult and sensitive issues safely with young people. Practitioners can access these resources by registering at:
www.thinkuknow.co.uk/professionals/
Alongside these learning resources, children and young people can access developmentally appropriate information and advice to help them stay safe online (www.thinkuknow.co.uk).
Thinkuknow’s parents website (www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents) includes resources and information for parents and carers to help build their confidence and knowledge for protecting their children online. It also provides expert advice and support for parents who are worried their child might be a victim of abuse.
Level/nature of staff expertise required
Practitioners who use Thinkuknow resources should have experience of working directly with children and young people. This includes teachers, youth workers, sports coaches, scout and guide leaders, social workers and police officers.
Intensity/extent of engagement with target group(s)
The Thinkuknow network currently includes over 100,000 registered professionals from a range of backgrounds including education, law enforcement, health, social care and charity sectors. Materials can be used in various ways, over various time frames and with the different target groups.
Description of intervention
Thinkuknow resources are wide and varied, ranging from session plans, animations, web content and story books. Topics covered include:-
- Healthy/unhealthy relationships
- Harmful sexual behaviours
- Sharing indecent images, often known as ‘sexting’
- Online blackmail
- Grooming tactics used by offenders such as pressure, manipulation, coercion, flattery etc.
As well as developing preventative educational resources addressing the key threats young people face as identified by NCA intelligence and the latest research, Thinkuknow also offers a range of training opportunities for practitioners to further their working knowledge and confidence in protecting children and young people online:
Keeping Children Safe Online:
An e-learning course for professionals developed jointly with the NSPCC. The course aims to help develop professionals’ knowledge on how young people use the internet, and how to help keep them safe from abuse.
Modules cover areas such as harmful content online, online bullying, radicalisation and extremism, and sexual offending against young people online.
CEOP Ambassador Course:
In-depth training delivered by NCA-CEOP’s Education team, providing knowledge of:
- What young people do online
- The nature of online sexual offending against young people
- How to respond effectively to incidents of ‘sexting’
- How to deliver strong preventative education
Upon completion, delegates becomes CEOP Ambassadors and receive access to the Thinkuknow introduction course to enable delivery to colleagues and fellow practitioners locally.
For further information, including eligibility criteria, dates, locations and bookings please visit:
www.thinkuknow.co.uk/training/ceop-ambassador-course
Over 8,000 professionals have been trained as CEOP Ambassadors since 2007.
Thinkuknow Introduction Course:
Introductory training organised and delivered by CEOP Ambassadors, focusing on the risks young people face online and Thinkuknow’s educational response to these risks.
Evaluations
Thinkuknow is an extensive programme which includes educational resources, practitioner training and delivery of messages through its websites. Many of the resources have been quality assured by the PSHE Association and have achieved the PSHE Association Quality Mark.
At the time of writing (2019), NCA CEOP is in the early stages of evaluating the impact of a new Thinkuknow education resource using an independent research partner. The resource, which focuses on the sharing of nude images by young people, reflects the most recent developments in the Thinkuknow education ethos, approach and model.
References
Contact details
Email: ceopeducation@nca.gov.uk
INFORMATION CORRECT AT DECEMBER 2019
RATING: Pioneering