Henry Platten, founder of eCadets and Educate Awards judge.
Schools across the country are being given a free gift that will allow them to connect their classrooms to schools around the world.
Go Bubble, the brainchild of Henry Platten, is a site that has all the fun of social media with the bad bits taken out.
Henry Platten is a former police sergeant and founder of eCadets – the UK’s number one pupil-led online safety programme for schools.
Henry, who is also a judge at this year’s Educate Awards, says: “With social networks designed for older users there isn’t a safe environment for kids under 13 to develop digital skills and engage with users the same age as themselves.
“From our experience in supporting schools with their online safety education, we know how important it is that children are given the opportunity for a safe digital playground to connect with all aspects of their life, family, school and sports.”
Research for CBBC Newsround has shown social media is a big part of childrens’ lives, with 78% using at least one network a day despite being under age.
Go Bubble’s web version is completely free and there is also an optional paid-for app in Google Play and the App Store. All that needs to be done to get started is go to www.bubble.school to register for a free account.
The app’s cutting-edge safety has been acknowledged with it being awarded the age rating of three, this means it’s safe for any school age children to use.
Go Bubble is also jam packed full of teacher features, including the ability to create classroom discussions and interactive learning.
Henry adds: “One of the major dangers of social media is the uncertainty over the identity of the person you’re chatting with. In Go Bubble, every Childs’ age is verified by the school. This helps to ensure kids can only connect with children the same year group age around the world.
“We’ve also designed out other problems of cyberbullying and inappropriate images. With Go Bubble we’ve taken all the bad bits taken out of traditional social media.”
With more than 3,200 schools signed up already across 17 countries including the UK, China, USA, UAE, Sweden, Australia and Africa, Go Bubble will become a must-have digital resource for Teachers.