Better Internet for Kids

In our ongoing efforts to champion online safety, we present crucial insights targeted at tweens and teens to raise awareness about safeguarding against online grooming. The provided content outlines practical tips for navigating the digital world securely.

1. Think Before You Share:
The material underscores the significance of refraining from sharing personal pictures or videos online, especially with unfamiliar individuals, emphasizing the irreversibility of online content.

2. Friend Requests:

Embarking on the digital journey can be thrilling for teenagers, but with that excitement comes the responsibility to foster positive and healthy connections online. This tailored presentation addresses the crucial theme of cultivating healthy relationships in the digital realm. By instilling a sense of responsibility, promoting awareness, and highlighting the benefits of kindness, SIC Malta aims to create a digital landscape where teens can thrive, build meaningful connections, and contribute to a safer and more supportive online community.

In celebration of Safer Internet Day 2023, BeSmartOnline (part of the Maltese Safer Internet Centre) Youth Ambassadors collaborated with children from the Youth Participation Group to create a powerful 2-minute YouTube vieon. This insightful video captures the authentic voices of young individuals as they share their perspectives on cyberbullying. The participants were asked candid questions, including their insights on cyberbullying, their interpretation of 'online respect,' strategies for bystander intervention, and heartfelt messages for those experiencing cyberbullying. 

We have prepared a leaflet for teenagers on the importance of sleep. This leaflet was created for the purposes of Back-2-School 2023 campaign.
At the moment, the leaflet is only available online. You can find the digital version on the Safe.si website, as well as on Facebook and Instagram. Our objective is to reach as many young people as possible. The online version, provided as a downloadable PDF, is easily accessible and free of charge.

"VAIKŲ LINIJA" is starting to implement the educational platform for children and teenagers about the difficulties they experience, with inclusive and attractive content for children". This project aims to better respond to the emotional needs of children and adolescents by creating an educational platform.

In the third quarter of this year, the hotline in Lithuania received 747 reports of content on the internet that is prohibited and has a negative impact on minors. Compared to the same period last year, the number of reports increased by 78%.

"Of the total number of reports received, the number of reports of child sexual abuse images in particular almost doubled compared to the same quarter last year. We received around 200," says Irma Kazlienė, Head of the Communications Regulatory Authority of the Republic of Lithuania (RRT) Digital Services Group.

Lesson plan for introducing students to the principles of artificial intelligence and to make students aware of the possibilities related to artificial intelligence technology as well as of risks and challenges. Also, to give students the basic knowledge and practical skills to protect themselves in the digital world. The lesson plan includes a presentation to introduce the topic, practical exercises with worksheets for students.

Webinar discussion topics: why young people sext, what may be the reasons for such behavior, what are the risks and what emotional, social and legal consequences can this lead to, what is the role of law enforcement agencies in combating online sexual abuse and what a parent could do.
The webinar took place as a Facebook LIVE event on Telia Estonia's Facebook page and Estonian SIC Facebook page Targalt internetis. The recording is available for watching.
The seminar is organized by the Estonian SIC and Telia Eesti.’

The Unboxing Tech Toolkit helps students to better understand their smartphone, its design and their own usage behaviour. It teaches them how smartphones and apps work and which mechanisms encourage them to use the applications for longer. It offers a compact summary on the topic of dark patterns, persuasive design, etc., whereby individual pages can also be picked out and used for teaching purposes.
The toolkit was developed by the Pranava Institute in collaboration with Tactical Tech and translated and adapted for German-speaking countries by Saferinternet.at.

The cyberbullying scavenger is a free online puzzle game for 10 to 14-year-olds. The game involves solving tricky puzzle questions on the topic of cyberbullying. It deals with questions such as: What is cyberbullying? What can I do if I am affected myself? How do I react to hate comments on the Internet?