What’s Rare is Wonderful

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Diarmuid Hudner – CEO of CyberSmarties

“We need technology in every classroom and in every student and teacher’s hand, because it is the pen and paper of our time, and it is the lens through which we experience much of our world.”
– David Warlick

It’s not very often I get excited. Watching my favourite team win may cause a raised eyebrow but is unlikely to register a change in heart pulse. It’s the way I am for better or for worse. Something which does cause a flutter however is when something new is created from nothing which will result in a discernible change in society.

Of course I am biased here as the reason I am excited is directly related to something we as a company have created. For a long time now, we have been beverishly working away on a system which would ensure children enjoyed all the benefits of social media but without any of its dangers. It seemed like an impossible task but therein was the challenge we accepted.

Cybersmarties had already created a safe social educational network for kids, which is an educational tool for schools to educate children through behavioural technology how to act responsibly online, protect themselves and ensure a better way in the future of how social media is used. And it has been working great, everybody loves it and now it looks like we are expanding into Holland but there was an itch we couldn’t scratch and the Team at Cybersmarties wasn’t happy about it.

The issue was, what happened after school or at weekends or during the holidays. If kids were being taught how to behave online during school then wouldn’t it be better if they could use this knowledge after school to good effect. The problem was, how do we ensure the safety of children using this system outside of school since safety is our first priority?

The boffins here at Cybersmarties have been working here day and night on a system which would detect instances of harassment or cyber-bullying immediately and also provide a Referee System by which appropriate behaviour is ensured. Something which was also a personal goal of mine was to ensure the protection of the child who lacked self-esteem or confidence and who would therefore be too afraid to report harassment until it was too late. These issues needed to be rectified and last week we succeeded. I wont bore you with the number of algorithms and complex number sequences which we had to come up with but basically it allows a team of expert “Cyber Referees” to fully monitor the system in or out of school, seven days a week. This now means your child can use Cybersmarties in a fully locked down, advertising free system, make friends with other kids and exchange messages, play games, jokes and enter competitions and all the time they are free from harassment as it is detected immediately, dealt with and positively educated around. From a parents or teachers point of view there is the peace of mind from knowing that children are not talking to anyone they shouldn’t be talking to, negative behaviour is dealt with immediately and reported upon whilst at the same time the kids are enjoying it as it is built just for them.

The implications of this new system are huge. You need not worry now about who your child is talking to, what they are saying and what is being said to them. That’s all taken care of and whats more, the behavioural technology is constantly moulding positive behaviour, the daily positive messages and videos are boosting their self-esteem and encouraging them to be creative and be the best they can be and the games, jokes etc are making it a cool, fun space for them to hang out together.

So yes I got excited this week. There may have been even a slight curling of the lip into a faint smile, but then what’s rare is wonderful.

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