Safer Internet Day actions in Estonia 2022
29.03.2023
Each year, Estonian Safer Internet Centre focuses on one topical issue when celebrating Safer Internet Day in Estonia This year, Safer Internet Day paid particular attention to raising children´s digital competence and disseminated information about how to protect yourself and others online. To this end, Estonian Safer Internet Centre published new educational resources and organized several events.
Do you know that you can make the world a better place? If you notice something on social media that hurts you or someone else, let it be known.
• With a few clicks, you can notify the platform that this is inappropriate content.
• With a few clicks, you can tell the distributor that this is inappropriate content.
• With a few clicks, you can notify it to a friend or parent.
• With a few clicks, you can notify the helpline or the web police who can help you.
No one should be left alone with their worries.
This is a message from the new educational material for schools “How to protect yourself and others online” which was created by Estonian SIC together with experts and students. It contains slides with notes and guides, a video and an online test. Material can be used by teachers and also by older students when carrying out awareness raising events for younger students. On 25th of January webinars in Estonian and in Russian were organized by Estonian SIC for teachers and students to introduce new educational resources and to provide guidance about how to use those when carrying out awareness raising events in schools.
For kindergartens Estonian SIC created educational online resource about how to develop children digital competence. Educational resource contains thematic games, worksheets, points for discussion etc. On 28th of January Estonian SIC organized webinar “Digital Competence Development Activities for Kindergarten – Games, Worksheets, Discussions” for kindergarten teachers to introduce new educational material and to invite them to use this material when celebrating Safer Internet Day.
As in recent years, Estonian SIC invited schools and kindergartens to organise thematic events for and with children and to celebrate Safer Internet Day. All awareness-raising activities were registered on the Estonian SIC website were placed on the Estonian map of Safer Internet Day events. Altogether more than 12 600 children and students participated in the Safer Internet Day awareness raising events. Many older students carried out Smartly on the Web school lessons for younger students in their school by themselves using Estonian SIC new educational material. Schools and kindergartens organised thematic lessons and workshops for students, carried out online and offline quizzes and online tests, watched thematic videos, made posters etc.
On the Safer Internet Day, Estonian SIC organized webinar “Problematic situations faced by children and young people online. How to help and support” for parents and teachers. At the webinar a coordinator of web-police from Estonian Police and Border Guard Board, Estonian Helpline 116111, Estonian Hotline etc. introduced their work and gave information on how to support and to provide relevant assistance to children and young people.
The coordinating organisation of Estonian Safer Internet Centre, Estonian Union for Child Welfare, regularly publishes a web journal ‘Notice a child’ (Märka last), the objective of which is to raise awareness of children’s rights in society. In the framework of the Safer Internet Day campaign a special edition of the magazine entitled ‘Smartly on the Web’ (Targalt internetis) was published. The main topics covered were datafication of childhood, how to protect yourself and others online, digital garbage, importance of being a good role model for children online, new educational resources, information about helpline and hotline etc. In addition, these articles were disseminated via Estonian SIC social media channels and some of these articles were published also on national news portals to reach even more people aiming to give knowledge for better understanding of online risks and challenges and to support children’s positive use of digital technologies.
This year’s Safer Internet Day events attracted the attention of the general public. The topic was covered in various media publications, including radio and television channels.
All compiled information and teaching materials can be used in teaching both in kindergarten and in schools on a daily basis.
