Our virtual adventure continues amongst the schools participating in the special edition of Safer Internet Day, promoted by Microsoft and the Fondazione Mondo Digitale in collaboration with the Italian Postal Police to [see new Safer Internet Day 2016]. Today, we travel to IIS Macedonio Melloni in Parma.
The school managed by Headmaster Beatrice Aimi has chosen to address cyber-bullying. The students invited their peers to reflect before commenting or posting images on-line as it “just takes one click to ruin a life.”
“The boundary between joking and what may be perceived as offensive is not clean cut,” explain the students. “Cyber-bullying begins when an individual feels bothered, molested and offended. Young men and women rarely understand the consequences of their actions when they upload offensive images or send them to friends. And while it’s often all done in jest, it can also be meant to hurt a person.”
You must be more careful, especially on social networks. And here’s the second piece of advice: “Be careful with your comments as they can be misinterpreted!”
The young students in Parma use direct and clear words to speak to their peers: “Before leaving a comment, think about it. Your comment may hurt others or cause unpleasant reactions against yourself or themselves. It can be copied elsewhere, out of context, and take on a different meaning. It can be used to mine information on your ideas. Remember that one you comment, you are no longer the owner of that comment, but are responsible for it.”
And here’s a short new report produced by the students with a series of communication tools to address their peers, along with an fact sheet on cyber-bulling with original drawings.
