Thursday of Internet Safety week saw Pendeen House lead and introducing Newquay Tretherras‘ first ever Safe Selfie Booth, encouraging students to get a photo either by themselves or with friends, to help spread the message of internet safety further afield.

According to research by Google, around 93 million selfies were taken every single day as far back as 2014, and on Android devices, on average every third photo taken by those aged 18 to 24 is a selfie – in all likeliness at some point, we’ve all taken a selfie! Most often these selfies are taken and left on a phone, but when they’re shared on social media such as Facebook and Instagram, it’s important to consider the image we’re giving of ourselves, as well as ensuring that our accounts are restricted to an appropriate level so that only people who we want to see that selfie, can see it.

Mr Nicholls, Head of Pendeen House said “The idea of the ‘Safe Selfie Booth’ came about as a result of seeing the statistics relating to how many selfies are taken every single day. Couple this with statistics such as the average social media user on Facebook aged between 18 and 24 having (on average) 649 friends, it’s easy to see how what can start off as an innocent selfie with friends can spread to audiences that it wasn’t intended for. Our idea was to have a bit of fun, whilst also including the key hashtags #internetsafety and #staysafeonline , in an attempt to spread the message of safety further.”

Students from across the year groups at Newquay Tretherras took part in the lunchtime activity, both individually and as groups with their friends, doing their part in sharing the message of staying safe online.

Internet Safety week has been well embraced by staff and students alike across Newquay Tretherras this week, with each house running a different activity in the name of spreading the important message behind internet safety. Given the ever growing world of the internet and increasing social media access, the Heads of House felt it an important message to share with the school, and local community, to remind students that it’s important to enjoy the internet, but to also stay safe online.