Pioneering Digital Wellbeing
Ireland’s First Ever Programme to Recognise and Celebrate Digital Wellbeing in Schools Launches
- All schools in Ireland are urged to sign up to the Digital Wellbeing Awards programme which is
designed to equip students and teachers with the tools to navigate digital responsibly.
29 th January 2025: The EU’s first Digital Wellbeing Award programme for primary and secondary schools was launched today with a school in Rush, Co. Dublin becoming the first to be awarded the accolade.
The Awards framework has been developed by Digital Schools Awards in conjunction with webwise.ie along with the backing of major tech companies HP and AMD for this unique education-industry partnership.
St Joseph’s Secondary School, Rush, took part in the pilot programme for the initiative and in doing so became the first school to be awarded the Special Recognition Badge. Today’s launch is putting a call out to all national and secondary schools in Ireland to join the Digital Wellbeing Award initiative.
What is the Digital Wellbeing Award
Open to register and free to all schools in Ireland, the awards programme underscores Ireland’s commitment to fostering healthier digital habits. To achieve the award, schools must show that they have set out and adopted a whole-school digital wellbeing strategy. Through practical support and access to resources, the programme will help participants to build positive attitudes and behaviours and to be able to anticipate, recognise, recover and learn from online risks.
Special Recognition Badge
To attain a Special Recognition Badge for Digital Wellbeing, schools must complete a self-assessment to identify their expertise. Where gaps in the knowledge exist, Digital Schools Awards will provide the necessary guidance to achieve accreditation. The stand-alone badge will be available to all schools that demonstrate a strategic approach to cyber resilience and internet safety.
Digital Wellbeing at Grassroots Level
Recent research by the UCD School of Medicine looking at the level of digital skills among children aged 10 and 11 found those with a safe and positive understanding of technology and smart devices enjoyed overall higher levels of contentment compared to their less digital savvy peers.
The Digital Wellbeing Awards will help schools to support students with the knowledge and tools to be responsible and confident online.