Safe Surfer founder Rory Birkbeck has helped head the launch of a new childrens' book to help parents, and schools make children aware of the dangers of the internet. Photo/John Borren
Safe Surfer founder Rory Birkbeck has helped head the launch of a new childrens' book to help parents, and schools make children aware of the dangers of the internet. Photo/John Borren
An award-winning tech innovator has released a free children's book aimed at keeping them safe on the internet.
Keeping Safe on the Web with Kyle the Kingfish is the result of efforts from Safe Surfer using a $10,000 grant from Tauranga City Council's Community Development Fund. The book is designed for children aged 6 and up. It offers parents, schoolteachers and counsellors the opportunity to have child-friendly conversations about the dangers of too much screen time, online bullying, sharing photos, revealing their identity online and pornography.
It is also free, for now.
'Keeping Safe on the Web with Kyle the Kingfish' is the result of efforts from Safe Surfer using a $10,000 grant from Tauranga City Council's Community Development Fund. Photo/supplied
Safe Surfer co-founder Rory Birkbeck said the idea was born after talking to parents with children in their early teens.
"A lot of the feedback that was coming in was 'If we had just talked to them earlier we could have actually helped them and encouraged them and they would have come to us'," he said.
"It's just about having a healthy conversation, shame-free, and saying 'if you see something, let us know' rather than when they are having real issues at the other end and parents become more like policemen."
Safe Surfer is a Tauranga-based social enterprise established in 2016 by Birkbeck and fellow IT expert Aaron Sinclair. Safe Surfer's "Lifeguard" device can be attached to any modem and blocks websites containing pornography, violence, gambling and other harmful material. Earlier this year they won "Tech Innovator of the Year" at the 2018 NZ Charities Technology Awards.
Birkbeck said the average age of children experiencing sexual exposure online was 11 and "that is a real driving force in terms of wanting to do something".
"It's not okay for kids to be sexualised at a young age. It's not okay for the internet to be the place where it happens."
Birkbeck said there were not enough resources available that related to Kiwi kids in a relaxed, age-appropriate way.
'Keeping Safe on the Web with Kyle the Kingfish' is the result of efforts from Safe Surfer using a $10,000 grant from Tauranga City Council's Community Development Fund. Photo/supplied
"It's always been really hard for parents to know the right time to have those conversations and how to approach tough issues like pornography. Creating a storybook was the easiest way we could see to make a massive difference and help parents raise kids who see and do amazing things online but are aware of the dangers involved."
A private donation has meant hundreds of copies of the book have been printed and are available to interested parents, schools, and counsellors from Books of Plenty in Tauranga CBD or Grow ECE in Pāpāmoa.
The book's content was written by a team of New Zealand and Australian writers with input from child psychologists and counsellors who often deal with the fallout when young people are exposed to pornography.
More information can be found at the Safe Surfer website here.
Keeping Safe with Kyle the Kingfish
The book uses the ocean as an analogy for the internet and invites children to explore with Kyle the Kingfish and make a plan on how to stay safe. The book encourages children to think before writing something online. It also compares pornography to a shark in the ocean and urges children to "turn, think, tell". Turn your eyes away, think about something good or fun, tell your parent or a trusted adult.
