What is Hector's World™ education?
 Children are first going online at very young ages. Some are even beginning to use a mouse or a keyboard before they reach their first birthday.
A surprising number of children by the age of 6 are able to navigate the internet unassisted. Yet what format for online safety education will be effective when very young children developmentally have great difficulty understanding what risk is and how to manage it?
Hector's World™ offers an engaging group of animated characters, with whom children 2-10 years old can form strong emotional bonds and use as positive role models. The adventures of these characters can be the 'building blocks' of cybercitizenship education, especially when viewed and discussed with the guidance of a teacher, parent or youth group leader.
The core content of Hector's World™ uses high quality 2-D animation presented in an episodic format. These episodes feature residents of the undersea community of Silicon Deep. Children can observe the characters as they learn how to stay safe online, while enjoying the many benefits the online environment has to offer. The experiences of Hector and his friends in the episodes offer viewers practical commonsense guidance on mitigating risks, while positively reinforcing the importance of ethical and responsible behaviour.
Our education material is a wonderful stimulus for discussion about cybersafety for parents, teachers, and other professionals charged with the safety and wellbeing of children. Starting this 'conversation' with a child's first online access will help foster that important on-going dialogue, which becomes more crucial as children grow older and more autonomous online.
With Hector's World™ there is the potential to create a universal cybersafety resource for the very young. In New Zealand, Hector and his friends are already integrated into the NetSafe School and Early Childhood Programmes, including NetSafe's training for school personnel. Outside of NZ, our material can be used alongside existing education programs and complement the excellent work other cybersafety agencies have done.
Click here to find out more about Hector's World™
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