CyberSafeKids, Ireland's online safety charity is hosting its fourth annual 'CyberBreak’, from 5pm this Friday, 20 October to 5pm on Saturday, 21 October, 2023.
CyberBreak encourages families and school communities across Ireland to put away their smart devices (phone, tablet, laptop, computer, gaming console) for 24 hours in order to promote the importance of having a healthy online/ offline balance.
How to get involved:
- Sign up now to be in with a chance of winning a gift voucher. Share the link with your friends and family (encourage them to sign up too!) - www.cybersafekids.ie/cyberbreak
- Check out our new family fun guide with over 38 fun ideas and delicious recipes from Lilly Higgins to help you and your family plan your time offline
- Check out our school resources we've specially prepared for CyberBreak; including short talks from Author and psychotherapist, Richard Hogan on the benefits of taking a digital break for both primary and post-primary school aged children and classroom activity ideas to challenge kids to think about life offline and what it was like in the "old days" before smart devices existed!
6 top tips to help you balance your online-offline lives:
- Try to make sure that your phone is not the first thing that you look at in the morning. Make it an active choice to do something else - stretching, meditating, eating breakfast.
- Avoid using your phone as an alarm clock (there are plenty of alternatives) and try to keep phones, iPads, laptops etc out of the bedroom so your device use doesn’t interfere with your sleep.
- Try and make mealtimes, especially if it's with children, a device-free time.
- Actively decide what you consider to be ‘time well spent’ online. If it’s not endlessly scrolling through social media then make a deliberate effort to to limit it.
- Switch on the "do not disturb mode", on your phone so you won't receive notifications, messages or calls for periods of time when you need to focus or switch off.
- Create a family agreement that everybody signs-up to, which has identified device free times eg family movie /pizza nights on a Friday.
Please visit www.cybersafekids.ie/cyberbreak to find out more.
Established in 2015, CyberSafeKids* is an Irish registered charity which works to empower children, parents and teachers to navigate the online world in a safe and responsible manner.
They helped to develop the Online Awareness show Alva's World, produced by Kavaleer for RTÉjr.
