Are you looking for an opportunity to make a big difference with an exciting new child safety campaign?
For 50 years we’ve been warning our children about ‘stranger danger’. Yet the evidence is clear. Most strangers won’t harm children, and some people that do pose a risk to children are not strangers. Today’s children live in an increasingly shielded world. They spend less time playing outdoors and moving about independently (for example walking to school) fuelling a rise in childhood obesity and mental health problems. Safety which simply curtails children’s independence becomes toxic, depriving them of the emotional intelligence, creativity and problem-solving skills that are vital to their development and, ironically, will actually keep them safe.
We’ve created Clever Never Goes to give parents, teachers and other professionals an effective alternative to ‘stranger danger’ based on the simple message that children shouldn’t go with anyone unless it has been arranged beforehand. Rather than fearing the worst in everyone they don’t know, Clever Never Goes helps children to recognise specific situations that are unsafe and gives them the tools to respond. It’s designed to be positive, practical, playful and – above all else – to keep things in perspective. Clever Never Goes aims to keep children safe. But it’s also about building children’s abilities to engage with the outside world, and giving parents the confidence to let them.
Since launch in June 2018 more than 1,000 schools have signed up and downloaded our free Clever Never Goes teaching resources. We’ve also just embarked on a new partnership with the Metropolitan Police Service (London) giving police schools officers the resources to teach Clever Never Goes.
We are looking to recruit a Social Media volunteer to help us develop and implement a social media strategy to promote Clever Never Goes and build a network of support.
What do we want to achieve?
We want to use social media to:
- Raise awareness of Clever Never Goes amongst parents and professionals working with children including teachers, police, local authorities, scouting leaders, martial arts instructors etc.
- Drive “sign-ups” to Clever Never Goes (via the website)
- If possible, drive donations
- Offer Clever Never Goes to individuals, communities, schools etc. at the time when they need it, i.e. they are concerned about an incident in their area.
Social media channels
At present Clever Never Goes has both a Twitter and Facebook account (@clevernevergoes). Both are under-used.
The role
We’re looking for someone with experience of using social media who can give a few hours a week to:
- Use Twitter and FB (and possibly other channels such as Instagram) to identify individuals, groups, schools etc. that are concerned about an incident or talking about “stranger danger”? and engage them with the Clever Never Goes programme (e.g. by responding to a conversation, joining a group, direct messages etc.
- Build a Clever Never Goes community by maintaining our social media channels with a steady stream of relevant and ‘on tone’ posts.
- Respond to replies or posts concerning Clever Never Goes.
- Advise on how we might utilise social media to instigate new campaigns, e.g. geographically targeted messages, fundraising campaigns etc.
Tone and content
It is important for the charity to set the right tone and content for our use of social media.
Virtually every day there are local media stories about (mainly attempted) child abductions or suspicious incidents. Several years ago we used to post these on our Twitter account, which was essentially drawing attention to the problem. However, this can have the effect of creating fear and concern and can make our social media presence look negative and problem-focused.
More recently we have been trying to use Facebook to create a more positive social media presence. Most posts have been about the progress of the Clever Never Goes campaign, and the benefits of telling children about CNG (promoting independence, essential safety skills etc.). From time to time we’ve also posted on a broader range of themes: free-range kids, positive parenting and events (“place to take your kids this Easter holiday”) or offers (“kids go free at xxxxx” etc.). The intention has been to create a positive social media presence, fostering a broader appeal.
I would like the volunteer to make suggestions on how we should continue to set the tone and content of our social media use to best effect.
If you are interested in helping please contact Geoff Newiss, geoffnewiss@actionagainstabduction.org.
