Sofia, February 9 2016
On Feb 9th the world celebrates for the 13th time the International Safe Internet Day. Starting as an initiative of the European Union, it has now spread far beyond it and in 2015 was celebrated in 110 countries on all continents.
On the Safe Internet Day the Bulgarian Center initiated 3 campaigns aimed towards children, teenagers and parents:
#oblechisebe (#putclotheson): Campaign, elaborated together with a group of adolescents and targeting sexualized behavior in Internet and the resulting models of online gender-based violence. The campaign is implemented with the financial support of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism
Program Cyberscout 2016: For a second consecutive year there will be educational sessions for cyberscouts in 6 more regions which will be competing for the best and most interesting activity.
Parent education program: A handbook for parents is elaborated and trainings for parents will be implemented to acquaint them with the risks children face online and the ways of dealing with them.
At the event three cyberscout groups were awarded – 5th and 6th year schoolchildren from Popovo, Smolyan and Vidin.
At a press-conference are presented results of several researches on usage of digital technology from children and how the grown-ups support them, as well as a few troubling tendencies one of which is that children have access to many and different digital devices and to media content even in families below the poverty line – they begin using smartphones and tablets at the 3-4 yrs of age. The other troubling tendency is that the children might encounter unsuitable for their age content and/or online behavior at websites they visit frequently. To avoid negative influence, they need skills and knowledge, defined as digital and media literacy. When children have support from grown-ups, technology can benefit greatly their development. This is especially true in Roma families.
It’s necessary that the educational system takes its responsibility and implements curriculum programs directed at creating digital and media literacy in children from pre-school age and during initial school years and in order to achieve results, there needs to be cooperation between school, parents, academic community, institutions and business.