Appointment in the IV Municipality with the Digital Facilitation Centres
New online training event for the Network of Digital Facilitation Centres. Over 40 parents of pupils from the Angelica Balabanoff comprehensive school in Rome came together with the help of trainer Gabriele Colantoni for an event aimed at providing practical guidance on the delicate issue of the relationship between young people and technology. The discussion focused on active listening, conscious communication and common sense as important educational tools for adults. Strongly supported by Annarita Leobruni, vice-president and councillor for schools, youth policies and equal opportunities in Municipality IV, the training mainly involved citizens from this part of the city. The area, crossed by the Aniene river and the central Via Tiburtina, is characterised by more residential streets alongside more working-class neighbourhoods. ‘The need for guidance on how best to accompany one's children in their online lives is universal, regardless of job position or level of education,’ commented Leobruni, who has also been a teacher and educator. "We have taken action on the issues of digital education, social media and cyberbullying precisely because there is a strong demand for information. Parents are often confused, whether they are familiar with the tools or are technologically illiterate.‘ Last Wednesday's event, 15 October, therefore combined a strong demand from parents with a desire to help young people live a conscious online life. ’Today, people think that what is published online is disconnected from reality, but this is not the case. The virtual world is just as real and has real repercussions."
The role of digital facilitation centres has become central to the community of the IV Municipality: “The service is fundamental for us, firstly because it is pervasive and covers the entire territory. Secondly, because it represents a free training and awareness-raising service, a real opportunity for full digital citizenship for all. The facilitators are expert, competent figures”.
Among the most appreciated services are support for nursery and kindergarten enrolment, requests for book subsidies and the creation of Spid. "Digital illiteracy is still widespread, and today, having concrete help is essential. There have been similar services in the past, mostly linked to volunteering, but never with this level of professionalism. This is perhaps the first time that such a close and fruitful relationship has been created between citizens and a place that provides assistance based on real needs.‘
For the future, the hope is that the service will continue. ’I would like to keep the focus on cyberbullying, as in this webinar. I have invited the heads of other institutions to request this specific training," concludes the councillor.
The meeting, which lasted longer than the scheduled hour, ended with a series of important reflections and questions, which will be addressed in future meetings: how the educational role of adults changes as children grow older, what are the right tools to accompany them, whether it is right to monitor the content exchanged between young people, whether prohibitions really protect children, how not to become a cyberbully.
The locations of the facilitation centres in the IV Municipality are the result of a joint strategy defined by the Fondazione Mondo Digitale and the administration to ensure coverage of the entire territory, identifying significant reference points. In particular, they are divided between the sites of the comprehensive schools Piero Angela, in Via Ratto delle Sabine 1, Tullio De Mauro, Viale Fernando Santi 65, Nicolai San Cleto complex, Via Nicola Maria Nicolai 85, CasalBianco, Via CasalBianco 140, Palombini, Via G. Palombini 39, and Mattarella, Via Sebastiano Satta 84.
