Better Internet for Kids

At the beginning of July, the second webinar of the SIC+ programme took place with a focus on the role of parents and awareness-raising activities that address parents. Three organisations shared their knowledge and resources on this topic: COFACE Families Europe, Child Focus and Mediawijs. This article presents the key takeaways of this webinar, including links to relevant resources on the topic of the role of parents and awareness-raising activities for online safety.

As part of the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) Quality Assurance Programme (QAP), the Insafe-INHOPE Coordination Teams are jointly conducting a set of fourteen country visits to national Safer Internet Centres (SICs) to better understand what is happening in the Member States: monitoring emerging issues and challenges, identifying good practices to be shared, and harvesting the results of the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) policy. On 30 March 2022, the Insafe-INHOPE Coordination Team visited the Hungarian Safer Internet Centre in Budapest.

Today marks the International Day of Friendship, celebrated every year on 30 July. The day was initiated by the United Nations (UN) in 2011 to promote "friendship between peoples, countries, cultures and individuals" as a way to "inspire peace efforts and build bridges between communities".

Many parents don’t know how to talk to their children about all things happening online. That is why Child Focus provides media education for parents to teach them about what young people are doing and how to deal with it.

This new teaching unit for secondary school teachers and educators intends to raise awareness among young people about the risks related to sexting. It is based on a fictional story about a young girl who becomes a victim when exchanging intimate content.

The largest conference in Poland on online threats and safety will take place on 27-30 September 2022. Experts from all over Europe will gather to discuss a broad spectrum of issues related to the safety of children and young people on the internet. This year's conference programme will include, among other topics, excessive internet use and online-offline balance in the post-pandemic era, risky behaviour of youth, cyberbullying and hate speech online.

It is a natural instinct for parents and carers to want to protect their children from dreadful and unpleasant events, but it is instead crucial for parents to be willing and able to talk to children about wars and other emergency situations, in a child-appropriate way. The Greek Safer Internet Centre has developed a resource to assist parents, carers and educators in navigating this difficult topic with young people.

Children listen to the radio, watch TV, read articles in newspapers or online. It is not possible, nor advisable, to hide all the bad news from them. We cannot allow our children to grow up in a golden cage. They have a right to information. But how do you deal with painful subjects like terrorist attacks or wars? First, consider the age of the child. It is best to protect small children and pre-schoolers as much as possible and keep them away from images and information.

The world has been shocked by the conflict in Ukraine and the terrible events and images of recent months. At a recent Insafe Training meeting, participants from the European network of Safer Internet Centres heard first-hand about the atrocities which are occurring, and how Ukraine's children and young people are being impacted. Alona Kryvuliak and Yuliia Anosova from La Strada-Ukraine, the Ukrainian Safer Internet Centre, shared their experiences and gave insights into how the Insafe network can also help the ongoing efforts.

In May 2022, the European Commission adopted a new European strategy for a Better Internet for Kids (BIK+), to improve age-appropriate digital services and to ensure that every child is protected, empowered and respected online. Ten years after the first BIK strategy, BIK+ wants to spotlight the voices and opinions of European youth.