On Tuesday, February 8, 2022, in the context of the International Day for Internet Safety, an online workshop on: "Together for a Better Internet".The Workshop was organized by the Cyprus Pedagogical Institute, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth and Cyta, with the support of the partners of the Cyprus Internet Safety Centre - CyberSafety and the National Strategy for a Better Internet for Children in Cyprus.
The Workshop was held online, due to the conditions prevailing during the coronavirus pandemic. The number of participants in this year's Workshop was unprecedented, as it was attended by more than 7,000 students from Primary, Secondary General and Secondary Technical and Vocational Education and Training, teachers and parents, from all over Cyprus.
Aiming to cultivate responsibility, respect, but also critical and creative use of the Internet in our lives, the conference served as a reminder of the duty of everyone, the State, teachers, decision-makers, parents, young people and children, to make the Internet a better and safer place for communication, entertainment and learning.
The conference was welcomed by the Director General of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth, Dr. Neophytos Papadopoulos and the Director of Sales and Consumer Market Marketing of Cyta, Mr. Christos Limnatitis. This was followed by interesting presentations, discussions and a theatrical event on the safe and responsible use of the Internet, with information on the prospects for its creative use, but also on how to deal with possible challenges and risks.
More specifically, Dr Georgios Giannakakis, Professor and Director of the Institute of Digital Games at the University of Malta (UM), referred to the contribution of digital games and artificial intelligence in learning. Next, Dutchman Geert Reynders, founder of Tegen Internet Misstanden - Against Internet, shared the story of his son Tim, who, due to an online challenge, lost his life. Through his own personal experience, he tried to inform and raise awareness among children, young people and young adults about online challenges and the need for proper information about them.
In addition, the thousands of students from schools all over Cyprus, who attended the conference online, had the opportunity to enjoy the theatrical performance on the topic of Cyberbullying: "George's Room", by the theatre group "intra portas". The aim of this performance was to make students aware that the Internet cannot be used as a means of revenge, sending messages about the importance of showing courtesy and respect to other Internet users. Subsequently, all participants attended the very interesting round table discussion, in which the President of the Parliament, Mrs. Anita Demetriou, the Commissioner of Citizens Mr. Panagiotis Sentonas and children-members of the CYberSafety YouthPanel participated. During the discussion, concerns and questions were raised by the children on how the Digital Decade for Europe could be shaped for children and young people. In particular, the children, citing also concerns that have emerged from the recent work consultation #DigitalDecade4YOUth, the European Commission, the statistics of the 1480 Helpline and Complaints Line, as well as their personal experiences, presented their concerns on how to ensure that the State promotes, protects, respects and fulfils the rights of all children and young people online. The President of the Parliament and the Citizens' Commissioner noted the importance of ensuring conditions for safe, critical and creative use of the Internet, focusing on the need to take into account the voices of the younger generation when developing relevant policies.
Finally, Ms Natassa Bofiliou, one of the most important representatives of contemporary Greek music and one of the most important performers of her generation, who is an ambassador of the Hellenic Internet Safety Centre, referred to the importance of using the Internet as a valuable tool in our lives, but away from intimidating, racist and other behaviours that can hurt and embarrass other children.
Interested parties can find more information about the Workshop at https:/internetsafety.pi.ac.cy/SID2022
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