Better Internet for Kids

Release of educational material for parents and teachers in collaboration with Google

The lesson material was created by Google, the Dutch SIC, and their partner Bureau Jeugd en Media. Half a year before, Google approached the SIC, expressing their wish to develop a Dutch version of Be Internet Awesome. After looking at the material, the Dutch SIC decided it was not enough to simply translate it; it had to be adjusted and localised to be relevant to the Dutch education system.

The Dutch SIC, therefore, connected Google to their partners and experts from Bureau Jeugd en Media. Together with a focus group of teachers, they created materials that met the goals of Be Internet Awesome while remaining adapted to the Dutch culture. Over this period, everyone read the material and gave feedback, and Bureau Jeugd en Media returned to writing. In the process, there were some difficult discussions on how to tackle the fact that many young children use Instagram and or Facebook even though they are not allowed to do this, according to the law. This issue was tackled by not mentioning the different names of the apps. In the end, everyone is satisfied with the result, which consists of teacher lesson material and an elaborate toolkit for parents, which you can discover on beinternetawesome.withgoogle.com/nl_nl.

The Dutch SIC presented the material at a meeting on Safer Internet Day, where teachers, policy makers, social workers, and other experts in the field were invited. The meeting also included a panel where several experts discussed the material and what was currently needed in education. The Dutch SIC carefully prepared their communication with the media together with Bureau Jeugd en Media because they were expecting some critical reactions due to working with Google. The SIC clearly stated their motivation and pointed out the quality of the material. Bureau Jeugd en Media also wrote a blog post that the SIC published on how they experienced working on this project and how they had ensured the quality of the material in working with a large party such as Google. This was quite successful as the SIC could refer people to this article if they wanted to know more about the cooperation. In total, 135 items in the Dutch media covered SID.

Organisation of the European Youth Day at Europol

The collaboration with Europol was very successful since the event allowed to reach 150 students aged 12-16 from six different schools. The Dutch SIC is hoping to work together with Europol again in 2021. In the first brainstorming session at the event, it turned out that young people want very practical advice on what to share, what not to share and how to handle a possible emergency online. The Dutch SIC referred Europol to their helpline, and they picked up the practical organisation together with Europol. The Dutch SIC is very happy with their helpline's involvement.

For more information about Safer Internet Day activities in the Netherlands, visit the Dutch Safer Internet Centre's Safer Internet Day profile page.

Find out more information about the work of the Dutch Safer Internet Centre (SIC) generally, including its awareness raising, helpline, hotline and youth participation services, or find similar information for Safer Internet Centres throughout Europe.