Better Internet for Kids

Several studies have demonstrated that there are great differences among children and young people in terms of their digital skills. The objective of the ongoing New Literacies development programme in Finland is to strengthen the media literacy, information and communication technology (ICT) and programming competence of children and young people in early childhood education and care (ECEC), pre-primary and basic education. Saara Salomaa, Senior Adviser at the National Audiovisual Institute (KAVI), provides an overview of its aims.

The Insafe network of helplines collects data about the types of calls received and this is analysed every three months to look at trends, and new and emerging issues. The most recent helpline data covers the period from April to June 2021 and, unusually, saw a reduction in the number of calls when compared to the previous reporting period. During Q1 there were over 17,000 contacts made to helplines but only 15,733 during Q2. However, this is due in part to changes in the way that some helplines are collecting and reporting data.

As with many activities, the year 2020 shaped and – above all – changed our Saferinternet.at Youth Panel, operated as part of the Austrian Safer Internet Centre (SIC). Instead of inviting young people to our offices and discussing current topics together face to face, we spent many hours together online.

On 1 June 2021, marked as International Child Protection Day for many countries, Latvia’s first digital obstacle trail was opened in a nature park “Tērvetes dabas parks” in partnership with the Latvian Safer Internet Centre (SIC) (Drossinternets.lv), the European Commission Representation in Latvia, JSC “Latvijas valsts meži” (Latvia’s State Forests), and the educational platform “E-klase.lv”.

The Kanner-Jugendtelefon (in English, children and youth telephone), part of the Luxembourg Safer Internet Centre (SIC) and now available under the international number 116111, was founded in 1992. Over the years, the service has adapted its offer to meet the needs of children and young people in the country, and it has recently changed its name to reflect its evolving nature.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, teenagers spent a lot of time on the internet, and especially on social networks. In doing so, they likely came across posts from peers, influencers, and complete strangers showing idealised images of their lives and bodies. Such posts can have a negative impact on teenagers and their self-esteem. The situation among young people has especially worsened during the pandemic, as noted by Slovenian Helpline Tom telefon and Slovenian Awareness Centre Safe.si.

When schools started implementing remote emergency teaching and learning due to the pandemic, and teaching moved into the private space of children and youth in their bedrooms, kitchens, and living rooms, a change in group dynamics seemed inevitable. Would cyberbullying increase if studying from home became the norm?

In celebration of Safer Internet Day (SID) 2020, a group of Better Internet for Kids (BIK) Youth Ambassadors prepared a Youth Pledge for a better internet on how to make the information on the apps and services they use on the internet more age appropriate for children and young people and worked with industry to achieve their aims. Following its initial success, the Youth Pledge initiative is continuing.

Professor Daniel Sampaio, Professor Ivone Patrão and the Directorate-General for Education, under the auspices of the SeguraNet Awareness Centre (part of the Portuguese Safer Internet Centre) and with the support of Geração Cordão and the Child Support Institute, have launched the campaign “Holidays: a healthy techno place!”, which seeks to encourage healthy use of technology among children and young people during the school holidays.

Teenagers and adults in 18 countries said perceptions of online civility have deteriorated one year into the global pandemic, with respondents in Poland, Philippines, Italy, Germany and Hungary reporting the sharpest net-negative sentiment, new Microsoft research shows.