Peer-reviewed article
Can a police-delivered intervention improve children’ online safety? A cluster randomised controlled trial on the effect of the “ThinkUKnow” programme in primary and secondary Australian schools
Tony Alderman, Barak Ariel, Vincent Harinam ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study tested the ThinkUKnow programme, a police-delivered online safety intervention delivered in one classroom session to Australian primary and secondary school students. The programme significantly improved children's knowledge about cyber abuse but had only modest effects on their risk perceptions, risky behaviours, or willingness to report abuse. Children who received the intervention were more likely to report cyber abuse to police, and younger students showed improved trust in police legitimacy.
Key points
- The programme significantly improved knowledge about cyber abuse among participating students
- Risk perceptions, engagement with risky behaviours, and willingness to report cyber abuse to adults or others were only marginally impacted
- Treatment participants were more likely to report cyber abuse to police than control participants
- Police legitimacy improved among younger students but not older students following the intervention
- The study involved 1954 students in a cluster randomised controlled trial design
Limitations
The study measured only immediate post-test outcomes and does not assess long-term behavioural change or sustained effects over time. The findings may not be generalizable beyond the Australian context or to diverse populations with different demographic characteristics.
Abstract
Abstract Purpose Online abuse of and by children is a global concern. Methods to prevent this phenomenon are diverse; however, less is known about police-led initiatives and their effectiveness in reducing the likelihood of becoming a victim or a perpetrator of cyber abuse among children. Specifically, there are no rigorous tests of the ThinkUKnow programme, to which hundreds of thousands of young people were exposed since 2006. Methods We present results from a cluster randomised control trial conducted to evaluate the Australian version of theThinkUKnowprogramme, delivered to students in primary and secondary schools. The programme consists of one face-to-face classroom-based training session delivered by at least one uniformed member of the Australian Federal Police. Post-test surveys among (n = 1954) students were used to estimate the treatment effect. Results Exposure to the programme significantly improves knowledge about cyber abuse but marginally impacted risk perceptions, engagement with risky behaviours, or willingness to report cyber abuse to adults or others. Treatment participants are more likely to report cyber abuse to the police than control participants. The legitimacy of the police also improves following the intervention among younger but not older students. Conclusion ThinkUKnowleads to desirable consequences in some but not all indictors of potentially minimising the risk of cyber abuse to and by children. Replications, preferably with diverse populations and measures of long-term effects of behavioural modifications, are needed.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
Problem
Online abuse of and by children; children at risk of becoming victims or perpetrators of cyber abuse
- Intervention
- ThinkUKnow programme: a one-session face-to-face classroom-based training delivered by uniformed members of the Australian Federal Police
- Population
- Primary and secondary school students in Australian schools (n=1954 in post-test surveys)
Key finding
Significantly improved knowledge about cyber abuse among treatment participants