As part of efforts to protect children and young people from harm online, a funny new public service campaign has launched in New Zealand aimed at parents and caregivers offering them tools, tips, and advice to protect kids.
Called “Keep It Real Online” the campaign, created by agency Motion Sickness, is a joint effort by the Department of Internal Affairs, Netsafe, the Office of Film and Literature Classification, and the Ministry of Education.
“In each scenario, our parent is confronted with their worst online nightmare, right on their doorstep,” said Hilary Ngan Kee, head of strategy and partner at Motion Sickness.
“But the most important thing is they stay cool, calm, and collected. The same skills they use in real life, such as open communication and level-headedness, still apply to these new digital issues. Parents should feel confident when dealing with these issues – at the end of the day, they’re the best person to keep their child safe. You don’t need to have all the answers, but supporting your child and giving that ‘adult’ guidance as they navigate the choppy waters of the online world will really make a difference.
The Creative Work
It features such gems as porn stars showing up at a mother’s door to discuss her son’s online activity saying, ‘We normally perform for adults, but your son’s just a kid,’ the woman tells the bewildered mother. ‘He might not know how real relationships actually work.”
Other topics cover problems with online bullying, inappropriate content, and grooming.
“As Kiwis, we often use humor to help us deal with difficult subjects,” added Kee. “In some ways, it gives us back the power. If we can laugh at something, then perhaps it’s not so scary, perhaps we can tackle it a bit better than we originally thought we could. It was important to us to include a bit of offbeat humor in our ad creative. The fact we could cast some truly talented NZ comedians was a bonus.
You can get more info on the campaign here.
