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Safer Internet Day: educating young people in Europe
06 February 2007
Young people across Europe are in urgent need of education in using mobile and Internet technologies according to a recent Insafe survey of more than 12,000 under 18 year-olds. Social networking tools are particularly problematic: 56% of young people surveyed choose to make their social networking profiles on sites such as MySpace public, and share a great deal of personal details.
To monitor and tackle the issue, the pan-European Insafe network is organizing today, 6 February, the fourth edition of Safer Internet Day, once again held under the patronage of Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Information Society and Media.
More than 120 organisations in 43 countries across the world are celebrating the Day with hundreds of multi-national, national and local events. Alongside the 24 European Union countries and another dozen countries that celebrated the event last year, a number of newcomers have joined this year’s line-up, amongst them Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Panama and Turkey.
A worldwide blogathon is once again the international highlight of the day. The 2007 edition debates the theme “Crossing Borders” and examines more closely user rights and responsibilities on the internet. Commissioner Reding underlines the importance of this: “Starting as an initiative in 2004, Safer Internet Day has become a major annual event crowning the awareness activities of Insafe, the European safer internet network. The growing network of nodes from Europe and beyond has a mission to promote media literacy and the safe, ethical and efficient use of the internet and mobile phones."
Mrs Reding launched the blog in Brussels in the early hours of this morning, and immediately passed the relay to New Zealand to start a westward journey across the world through Australia, Asia, the Middle East and Europe then over to South America, Canada and the USA. This year’s blog features more than a hundred projects realized by schools on the topics Netiquette, ePrivacy and the Power of Images.
Insafe, the European network of Safer Internet nodes that organizes Safer Internet Day every year, will today release further findings from the international survey of young people’s behaviour when using cutting edge communication technologies. For an overview of the days' events and further survey results, see www.saferinternet.org.
Further information:
European Schoolnet
Janice Richardson
Tel: +32 790 75 75
info-insafe@eun.org
Media room – press kit for journalists
Sofia.Aslanidou@eun.org
www.saferinternet.org
Online survey
Insafe:
National nodes of Insafe:
http://www.saferinternet.org/ww/en/pub/insafe/focus.htm
Safer Internet Day Blogathon:
EU Safer Internet Programme:
http://europa.eu.int/information_society/activities/sip/index_en.htm
eTwinning (partner in the Safer Internet Day competition for schools):
About European Schoolnet:
European Schoolnet is a unique not-for-profit consortium of 28 ministries of education in Europe created in 1997. It provides major European education portals for teaching, learning and collaboration and leads the way in bringing about change in schooling through the use of new technology. European Schoolnet coordinates the European Safer Internet network, Insafe.
About Insafe
European Schoolnet coordinates the European Safer Internet network, Insafe (www.saferinternet.org), which aims to empower citizens to use the Internet, as well as other information and communication technologies, safely, ethically and effectively. The network is funded by the European Commission’s Directorate General for the Information Society and Media. It comprises 26 national nodes which work together in close partnership in 24 countries across Europe and with three associated nodes, in Argentina, Australia and the USA.