PhonepayPlus announce winners of the 2015 PhoneBrain competition

PhonepayPlus announced the winners of the 2015 PhoneBrain film competition at a private screening held at the BFI Southbank yesterday. 
 
Joined at the event by guests from Vodafone, BBC and Disney, the winning school and the other finalists will now see their films used as resources to educate other young people about how to use their smartphones safely and confidently without unexpectedly running up high bills. 

As part of its ongoing work to improve children and parents’ awareness of app charges and how to prevent phone ‘bill shock’, PhonepayPlus partnered with e-safety charity Childnet for their annual Film Competition, sponsoring the PhoneBrain category.

About PhoneBrain
PhoneBrain is PhonepayPlus’ education programme that helps young people use their smartphones confidently and safely. It was launched in 2008 to educate young people and their parents about premium rate services, what they are and the costs involved. PhoneBrain provides free learning resources and an interactive website as well as an annual competition to engage young people on how to use these services safely and confidently.

Film Competition
Founded in 2010 as a way of asking young people to focus on positive use of the internet, the Childnet Film Competition invites schools and youth organisations from across the UK to capture their internet safety messages in a short film. This year’s Film Competition attracted young people from schools and youth organisations across the UK to showcase their use and understanding of the internet with over 800 young people involved in the production of films entered into the competition.

Finalists from eight schools and one youth group attended the shortlisted event where their films were shown on the big screen and judged by a panel of experts from the BBFC, BFI and PhonepayPlus.

Taking home the top prize of film equipment for their school in the PhoneBrain Category were winners Willow Bank School, a secondary school in Leicester.

Steve Pepper, Teacher from Willow Bank School, winners of the PhoneBrain category said:
“The PhoneBrain competition allowed our students the opportunity to reflect upon their own phone based expenditure. The fact that the competition was both fun and creative allowed our young people to immerse themselves in the issue and take ownership of it, rather than simply being preached at. A massive success indeed!”

Jo Prowse, Acting Chief Executive of PhonepayPlus said:
“As the regulator for phone-paid services, we hear about a variety of issues young people encounter when using smartphones. We take an active interest in educating young people to engage with these services confidently and safely.

“This year, by joining with Childnet on PhoneBrain we have been able to reach even more young people through the film competition.”

The winning films from the film competition can be viewed here. On our YouTube channel you can also watch other entries to the 2015 PhoneBrain competition.

About Childnet
Childnet’s Film Competition is now in its sixth year. The Film Competition encourages young people aged 7-18 to create a short film to educate their peers about staying safe online. The project engages schools in using new technology for creative and positive uses and equips young people with the skills they need to become confident digital creators. In addition, through the process, the young people create valuable resources to educate their peers about staying safe online and develop their own understanding of what it means to be a good digital citizen.
An online survey of young people’s experiences with app and in-app purchases was completed by 1,058 young people as part of this year’s competition. A summary of the results of the survey can be found here.