Donegal Youth Service have a new team member! Mya the puppet has recently joined the Youth Information Centre team to help them deliver Cyberbullying and Internet Safety workshops to primary school students.
The puppet is based on a design by Alannah Cannon from Scoil Mhuire National School in Milford. She was was one of over 100 Donegal primary students to enter the puppet design competition before the summer holidays.
Young people from around the county were invited to submit drawings of their puppet design to be in with a chance of winning a Lenovo Laptop worth over €500 which was generously donated by VC Computers, as well as seeing their design come to life.
Alannah Cannon meeting her design Mya the puppet
Left to right: Dominic McGlinchey, DYS Youth Worker, George Savva, VC Computers, Mr. Eoghan Roarty, Scoil Mhuire Principal, Katarzyna Kurzeja, Youth Information Officer, Gareth Gibson, Youth Information Manager.
2017 was another big year for the YIC team with their cyberbullying, and internet safety workshops. There were 7,244 young people, parents and teachers engaged through 219 workshops all around the county due to high demand.
The internet is a wonderful tool which has become essential for every day use for many of us. The internet is also the platform of choice for many bullies these days, and we must equip our young people with the tools and information to deal with these issues.
The aim of the workshops is also to encourage young people to improve their empathy and to develop “positive online behaviours” and become more aware of risk taking behaviour and associated dangers.
Alannah Cannon with Mya the puppet and her classmates
Letterkenny Youth Information Centre provide information and support for young people who have, or are currently experiencing cyberbullying as well as information for parents. They have a team of experienced staff who facilitate a mixture of age appropriate workshops and seminars to children, young people, parents and teachers. These sessions are available at both primary and secondary level as well as to other education providers and community groups.
Donegal Youth Service are a countywide youth organisation who respond to the needs of young people. Charity No. CHY 15027. For more information about their work with cyberbullying and internet safety, or anything else please contact (074) 91 29630, www.donegalyouthservice.ie, or find them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
