Better Internet for Kids

The main event was a central seminar for kindergarten teachers and other professionals working with preschool children, which focused on the impact of digital technologies and media on these younger children. At the beginning of February 2020, the Slovenian SIC also started an awareness campaign, "Do my parents like their mobile phones better than me?" which is aimed at parents who use their digital devices excessively.

Seminar for kindergarten teachers

In Slovenia, a trend is on the rise: the children having access to family digital devices like tablets, mobile phones and computers are getting younger and younger. Consequently, there is increasing pressure on kindergarten teachers in terms of the need for information about the safe use of the internet and of digital devices by pre-schoolers. Therefore, the Slovenian SIC organised a seminar entitled "Online in the kindergarten" that was held at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Ljubljana.

They have invited some well-known Slovenian experts to share their knowledge. Dan Podjed, PhD, introduced the importance of self-presentation on social networks from an anthropological point of view. Andrej Kovačič, PhD, talked about the impact of digital media on children. Tina Bregant, PhD paediatrician, explained the impact of digital media on children's development and Benjamin Lesjak, PhD, presented the safe use of digital technologies in kindergartens from a legal point of view. At the end of the event, the Slovenian SIC presented new handbooks for parents of preschool children and kindergarten teachers.

Handbook for parents "Mom, can I have your phone?"

On SID, the Slovenian SIC published a handbook for parents of preschool children entitled "Mami, a mi daš telefon?" (Mom, can I have your phone?), a translation and adaptation of a handbook prepared by the Austrian SIC. This handbook offers ten basic recommendations for parents to consider when introducing digital devices to their preschool children. The handbook will be distributed to parents of preschool children attending workshops or seminars by the Slovenian SIC and to parents through kindergartens.

Do my parents like their mobile phones better than me?

In public and private spheres, parents are too often seen looking completely absorbed by their mobile phones instead of playing or communicating with their children. This is a growing societal problem, which children also pointed out during school workshops. Therefore, the Slovenian SIC decided to raise awareness of this problem with a poster campaign.

To do so, they have designed and printed a provocative poster with a short message for parents pointing out that they should not neglect their children because of mobile phones. These posters are being distributed to every Slovenian paediatrician for them to exhibit in their waiting rooms. They have already been distributed to some schools, kindergartens, and social work centres. An ad campaign ran during February with these posters on billboards in major Slovenian cities.

SID in Slovenian schools

Every year, the Slovenian SIC encourages schools to prepare their own activities for SID. To best encourage participation, they prepared a SID Toolkit, which includes lesson plans with activities for different age groups, decision trees, leaflets, videos and other interesting tools that can be used in the classroom. The main topics were emotions online and the non-consensual sharing of pictures and personal data online. In 2020, 306 teachers from 261 schools registered, received the SID Toolkit and participated in SID activities.

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

Find out more information about the work of the Slovenian 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.