Internet traffic School (Netumferðarskólinn) is a part of the government's action plan for cybersecurity and was initially funded by the Ministry of Higher Education, Industry and Innovation. Around 9,000 children aged 6-13 years, 2,000 parents and 800 teachers in 80 different schools all around the country have participated in the Internet Traffic School for the past 1.5 years.
The Media Commission and the Data Protection Authority were initially given the role of developing educational materials on media literacy, data protection, AI literacy and internet security. The educational program is a mixture of lectures, group projects and conversations with the children, with the emphasis on raising awareness, understanding concepts and empowerment. At the same time, teachers receive an educational lecture to help them further engage in a discussion with their students about difficult matters in the online environment. They then get material to work with and ideas of projects to do with their students to keep on educating them about the digital world. In the evening, the parents are invited to an educational meeting to empower them to keep the discussion going at home. After the lecture they sit down together in groups to form an agreement together as a parent group on how they are going to support each other and their children on staying safe online.
Today, SIC Iceland is responsible for the Internet Traffic School. Icelandic research data shows positive results in areas that the Internet Traffic School emphasises on (e.g. social media, sharing photos, porn, online harassment and bullying) :
- In 2021, 60% of children aged 9-12 had access to TikTok and Snapchat. Two years later, that percentage had dropped to 36% on TikTok and 42% on Snapchat.
- In 2021, 42% of girls in grades 8-10 had been sent a nude photo. That percentage had dropped to 24% in 2023.
- Requests for nude photos in the same age group among girls have decreased from 51% (2021) to 29% (2023).
- The percentage of boys in grades 8-10 who watch pornography is decreasing from 61% (2021) to 33% (2023).
- The percentage of students who have experienced bullying online, on their phones or in video games is also decreasing among both boys and girls aged 9-18.
About this resource
Internet traffic School (Netumferðarskólinn) is a part of the government's action plan for cybersecurity and was initially funded by the Ministry of Higher Education, Industry and Innovation. Around 9,000 children aged 6-13 years, 2,000 parents and 800 teachers in 80 different schools all around the country have participated in the Internet Traffic School for the past 1.5 years.
The Media Commission and the Data Protection Authority were initially given the role of developing educational materials on media literacy, data protection, AI literacy and internet security. The educational program is a mixture of lectures, group projects and conversations with the children, with the emphasis on raising awareness, understanding concepts and empowerment. At the same time, teachers receive an educational lecture to help them further engage in a discussion with their students about difficult matters in the online environment. They then get material to work with and ideas of projects to do with their students to keep on educating them about the digital world. In the evening, the parents are invited to an educational meeting to empower them to keep the discussion going at home. After the lecture they sit down together in groups to form an agreement together as a parent group on how they are going to support each other and their children on staying safe online.
Today, SIC Iceland is responsible for the Internet Traffic School. Icelandic research data shows positive results in areas that the Internet Traffic School emphasises on (e.g. social media, sharing photos, porn, online harassment and bullying) :
- In 2021, 60% of children aged 9-12 had access to TikTok and Snapchat. Two years later, that percentage had dropped to 36% on TikTok and 42% on Snapchat.
- In 2021, 42% of girls in grades 8-10 had been sent a nude photo. That percentage had dropped to 24% in 2023.
- Requests for nude photos in the same age group among girls have decreased from 51% (2021) to 29% (2023).
- The percentage of boys in grades 8-10 who watch pornography is decreasing from 61% (2021) to 33% (2023).
- The percentage of students who have experienced bullying online, on their phones or in video games is also decreasing among both boys and girls aged 9-18.
About this resource
- Related content
- Internet internet and law internet for young people social media porn cyberbullying