For the 13th edition of the Safer Internet Day, Microsoft Italy and the Fondazione Mondo Digitale, in collaboration with the Italian Postal and Communications Police, have promoted an initiative driving over 1000 students in 21 Italian schools – in all 20 regions – to produce an Internet Safety Manifesto, by Students for Students.
From north to south, 1007 students in elementary, middle and high schools, coordinated by the Fondazione Mondo Digitale, began to work together to develop a Youth Manifesto for a Safer Internet, a reference document for a safe and proficient use of the Internet. The 14 golden rules are written in a clear and informal manner to provide useful information to their peers to inform them on how to avoid bad encounters on the web, stalkers and bullies who use the web to attack people, as well as useful hints to avoid frauds, identity theft, viruses and hackers, all problems that constantly confront digital natives.
The project, which has been accompanied by a virtual journey through the participating schools to monitor its progress, has highlighted the great attention that students pay to Internet safety issues, an issue that concerns them very closely. The work-teams focused prevalently on issues related to the use of social networks, smartphones, cyber-bullying and on-line paedophilia. These are the greatest threats to their peers.
In particular, cyber-bullying was the most addressed issue, a fact that reflects the alarm launched by the latest ISTAT data on on-line bullying. According to ISTAT, the phenomenon mainly involves adolescents, aged 14 to 17. The data indicates that 5.9% of young men and women who use a smartphone and the Internet have been the victims of aggressive messages via SMS, e-mail, chats or social networks. Two out of three students, not even taking in consideration all of the victims who do not report bullying, believe that cyber-bullying is a growing phenomenon.
“We have chosen to let the digital natives do the speaking, by giving them an active role in the identification of guidelines that can ensure a safe and proficient use of the web everyone, especially their peers, who are most vulnerable to Internet threats,” explains Paola Cavallero, Marketing & Operations Director at Microsoft Italy.
“There is a safety problem at all levels, but surely the safeguard of young men and women is our priority, especially as they represent a significant percentage of the users on the Internet. They are digital natives and naturally use this new technology. On average, they are on-line over two hours a day, chatting and sharing information on the web, but they often are lacking the most basic understanding of how to defend themselves. This type of education must begin at school, not only as a part of formal education, but also as the place where they grow and exchange views amongst themselves.”
"We want to speak to youth using their language,” declares Roberto Di Legami, Director of the Italian Postal and Communications Police, “so that they can understand the risks they may encounter. Minors have to be safeguarded by providing them with information on all the existing threats: fraud, identity theft, viruses and on-line bullying.”
The students will present their manifesto to the entire school community and will be in charge of promoting and raising-awareness on this initiative on all web channels, as well as through initiatives by the work groups and the promoters of this initiative.
Besides publishing the Manifesto, Microsoft and the Fondazione Mondo Digitale, in collaboration with the Italian Postal and Communications Police, have promoted a series of meeting and educational days dedicated to preventing risks related to web threats. The initiative aims to promote a culture of digital citizenship to allow young men and women to acquire a full awareness of the opportunities, but also the threats that lurk on the web, to make their digital experience enriching, entertaining and safe.
