Better Internet for Kids

To balance the amount of digital messages in our target groups, we decided almost five years ago to collect all the resources and information needed for the MLW in one old and reliable form: a hand held magazine. This year we published our fourth issue of the Media Literacy Magazine "Mediataito 2021". It is done in a cooperation with almost 30 partner organisations and consists of information and ideas for several different target groups.

Radio play "Sieciaki. "There are more of us" is the third part of the adventures of "Sieciaki" - four kids who fight against the dangers on the Internet. It was based on the book by Łukasz Wojtasik.

"Dopamine" is an educational film for young people devoted to the conscious and safe use of social media. The film touches on important topics such as the mechanism of the dopamine loop, profiling and toxic online relationships, while avoiding a one-sided narrative about the harmfulness of new technologies. In the narrative layer of the film we hear: "This is not a film about the Internet being bad. It's about us controlling the technology, not the technology controlling us.”

Plans help to develop a more systematic media education and to make future actions and needs more predictable. It is possible to include media education in current plans or design a totally new one. KAVI has created a guide to start this process. The guide consists of questions that help to figure out what kind of aspects should be considered while planning the development of media literacy.

Media Education is an important part of actions also in libraries. National Audiovisual Institute (KAVI) organised a communication campaign for the general libraries in Finland. Articles shared for the library staff and general public were also collected in one publication mailed to all libraries. This brochure is in Finnish but the main aspects of the campaign can be found in English from the public BIK portal.

The collection of playful poems was created on the basis of an originally Austrian book ON-LINE ZOO, which introduces children of preschool and younger school age to the most common risks associated with the use of the Internet.

Safer Internet Centre Czech Republic designed, produced and distributed school boards and supporting educational materials to 4.200 registered primary schools (according to the official basic school database by Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports). Their goal is to alert pupils and students to possible pitfalls in the online world in a popular educational way. And if necessary, to serve as a guide for kids while seeking help.

Students from the Czech Youth Panel wrote a script and starred in a short video on the topic of Internet security. They have prepared a total of six topics based on situations that Internet users actually get into and then face unpleasant consequences:

• identity theft,
• sexual harassment,
• sharing all activities with the public,
• sharing of personal data,
• sharing unverified information,
• insult and humiliation.

The aim of the short video is to point out the absurdity of the behavior of some people in the online space.

Martin Mikyska created a concept, where he shows in an inverted, comic way “how to react correctly” on the Internet (to make a fool of ourselves). Therefore, the viewer is "stopped" at the moment when someone gives a fair comment in an Internet discussion to be taught “the basics of the right commentary etiquette” which can be summarized as follows:

• Attacking on an emotional level is the most effective.
• Type something that doesn´t express any rational argument.
• Write something which isn´t backed up at all and depicts you as a complete caveman.

During the months of April - June 2021, we gradually published the motto of 7 members of our Youth Panel on the Instagram profile @bezpecnenanetu. The aim was to present our initiative as a part of the Safer Internet Centre CZ project and to further publish young people's views on today's Internet. In addition, we published where the panelists come from, what school they are studying and what their interests are. Their varied after school activities can also serve as an inspiration for today's youngsters, how to spend their free time meaningfully.