Better Internet for Kids

The last phase of the contest was attended by students, teachers, policy makers, and filmmakers. The keynote speakers at the event were three members of the CyberSafety Youth Panel, and they talked about the role and activities of the Cyprus Safer Internet Centre, they shared their own online experiences and involvement in promoting a better internet, and invited others to enroll in the youth panel to join their efforts. During the event, 11 student teams of both primary and secondary education presented their animation films – along with the process, experiences, lessons learned and key messages – in front of the audience, and they also answered to questions of the evaluation committee of the contest. At the end of the event, six films received an award. 

The event was organised by the Cyprus Pedagogical Institute of the Ministry of Education, Sports, and Youth with the support of the Cyprus Safer Internet Centre CyberSafety. The video production contest, which, for the second year, focused on creating animations, aims to develop skills related to media education but also important transversal skills, such as autonomy, learning, communication, collaboration, digital literacy, creativity, and innovation. In particular, children and young people need to go through an extensive research and production process tackling matters such as internet safety, opinion formation, message composition, informing peers and adults, contributing to effective learning and the formation of attitudes on a safe use of the internet. 

The contest is part of the activities organised in Cyprus for Safer Internet Day each year, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. Students participating in the competition were invited to demonstrate how #Together we can:  

• Fight online violence and bullying;
• End hate speech and racism;
• Say no to misinformation and fake news;
• Protect our personal data and our digital identity. 

Eleven student groups participated in the final phase of the competition, and presented the process of creating their videos to an evaluation committee and answered questions. The evaluation committee consisted of representatives from the Ministry of Education, the Pedagogical Institute, the Service of Educational Psychology, and the International Animation Film Festival Animafest “Views of the World”. The committee evaluated the videos according to predetermined criteria. 

All films and animations have been posted on the YouTube channel of the Educational Technology Department of the Cyprus Pedagogical Institute. 

More information about the competition can be found on the Internet Safety website (Video production contest 2022-2023 webpage, Safer Internet Day 2023 webpage).

Find out more about Safer Internet Day in Cyprus. Alternatively, find more information about the work of the Cyprus Safer Internet Centre, including their awareness raising, helpline, hotline and youth participation services – or find similar information for other Safer Internet Centres throughout Europe.