Safer Internet Day 2026
Every day, young people are online. They are gaming, researching homework, messaging friends, watching content and exploring new interests. The internet is part of daily life.
Safer Internet Day is not about creating fear around that. It is about building understanding.
When students understand how the online world works, they make better decisions within it. They become more confident, more aware and more capable. That is where digital education really matters.
Online safety starts with simple habits
There are small actions that make a big difference.
Thinking before sharing personal information.
Using strong and unique passwords.
Questioning whether something online is genuine or misleading.
Knowing who to speak to if something feels wrong.
These are not complicated skills, but they are essential ones. The challenge is that young people often know the rules, yet do not always understand the reasoning behind them. When they understand why something matters, it stays with them.
Moving beyond “do not click that”
Telling students what not to do only goes so far.
If we want them to stay safe online, we need to help them understand how cyber threats actually work. Who is trying to access data and why? How is information protected? What makes something vulnerable?
When students explore these ideas themselves, online safety becomes practical rather than abstract.
Bringing cybersecurity into the classroom
At Hyett Education, our Cybersecurity and Cryptography Workshop was designed with this in mind.
Rather than simply talking about staying safe, students explore how cybersecurity works in real life. They look at how information can be intercepted. They learn how cryptography protects data. They begin to understand how attackers think and how systems are secured against them.
It shifts the conversation from rules to understanding.
Students leave with a clearer picture of how their online world functions and what they can do to protect themselves within it. That confidence is powerful.
Turn Safer Internet Day into action
If you are looking for something practical to do with your students or at home, try exploring Google’s Be Internet Awesome Interland platform. It is a free interactive game that helps young people practise key online safety skills, from protecting personal information to spotting scams and communicating respectfully.
You can access it here:
https://beinternetawesome.withgoogle.com/en_uk/interland/
Let learners explore the activities and then start a conversation about what they discovered. Ask them what surprised them. Ask what they would do differently online. Small discussions like these build real awareness.
Safer Internet Day is a starting point. With the right conversations and the right learning experiences, we can help young people navigate the digital world with confidence and independence.
And that is the goal.