Since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic, children have had their eyes glued to the screens. The day of “Safer Internet Day” which takes place this Tuesday, February 8, 2022, is an opportunity to support them in their use of digital technology. A program offers families help in managing their children’s screen use.
[Mise à jour du 7 février 2022 à 9h41]. Parents are increasingly concerned about their children’s use of the Internet. Often overwhelmed by social networks, the fear of cyberbullying or bad online encounters, adults seek to better protect them. In short, thehe screens are at the heart of our children’s lives. It is therefore important to be able to discuss it with them and to know how to guide them to make safe use of it, on a daily basis. It is to help parents manage the use of screens that the Safer Internet Day which notably promotes the FamiNum.com program. The result of a collaboration between the “Internet without fear” program and the Mildeca (Interministerial Mission for the Fight against Drugs and Addictive Behaviours), this program is offered on the internetsanscrainte.fr website. Families must first complete a questionnaire in order to define their profile (number of people in the household, age of its members, etc.) and their priorities such as “reducing time spent in front of screens” or “avoiding conflicts around screens”. They then obtain recommendations accompanied by explanations and advice on how to apply them easily. Families can then develop their own screen use charter and can receive challenges by email for 6 weeks to achieve their goals.
Safer Internet Day: what is it?
Safe Internet Day exists since 2004. Today, this day is organized in 150 countries different and coordinated in the hexagon by Safe Internet UK. Safer Internet Day is for students, families, and education and child protection professionals. The goal? Give keys to understanding and concrete advice to protect children from harm.angers of the web, without prohibiting them from accessing it. Concretely, this day is each year the opportunity to provide support tools to children on their use of the web and to train in “parenting digital“. The latter consists of educating your children in good web practice. The training gives keys to approach the subject with them, and explains to you which clear rules to pose according to the age of the child. For example, Safer Internet Day offers concrete tips for settings to better secure the use of screens and social networks. In addition, there are many French programs and associations, which fight tohelp young people to surf the web without falling into the traps that the web hosts. The national Internet Without Fear awareness programme, works with “Net Listening“the national toll-free number for advice and assistance to young victims and parents. The Point de Contact platform, dedicated to reporting illegal content online, is also taking part in this initiative. To access it, you will have to register on the Internet platform without fear.
Safer Internet Day 2022: when?
This year, Safer Internet Day takes place this Tuesday, February 8, 2022. Internet without fear – coordinator of Safer Internet France for the European Commission in France – reminds parents and the educational world that the use of screens by children and adolescents concerns everyone.
What is Safer Internet Day all about?
This February 8, 2022, the theme of Safer Internet Day will be “Children connected, everyone concerned!” and concrete supports will be launched for the occasion:
- The FamiNum platform, which allows each family to create their own digital charter for the use of screens at home
- The Instagram account @InternetSansCrainte dedicated to parents
- The FamiNum video series to support parents with everyday problems related to screens
- On February 7, 2 free web-conferences will give advice and solutions to parents of children and teenagers
- In schools, turnkey digital kits will be given to teachers and facilitators to enable them to run digital education workshops from primary to high school.
More information on www.internetsanscrainte.fr/sid
Why a “Safer Internet Day”?
Many children are victims of cyberbullying, the news continues to alert us to the tragedies it can cause. the covid and successive confinements have increased digital habits. The use has been diversified: for school purposes, to ensure educational continuity, for their leisure of course, but also to communicate with family and friends at a distance. For teenagers too, screen time has multiplied, exposing them ever more to potential hateful content. For these reasons, we must continue to raise awareness about the right way to use the Internet when you are a child or a teenager.
Exposure of children to pornography is also a topic of concern to the government. In fact, nearly one child in three has already been exposed to X sites, most of the time accidentally. If the websites in question have the mission of better verifying the age of users, “parents must be made aware of this issue. I think that parents do not realize how much and how easily their children are exposed to these pornographic contents” explained Adrien Taquet. To support parents and give them the necessary tools to set up parental control, for example, the Secretary of State in charge of Children and Families as well as Cédric O, Secretary of State in charge of the Digital Transition and Electronic communications launched the site jeprotegemonenfant.gouv.fr in 2021.