Think Before You Click Goes to Kindergarten
Parents are responsible for providing children basic knowledge and information on how to be good digital citizens, much in the same way as they teach and model etiquette and acceptable public behaviour. For this reason, since 2014 Roda has been active in providing internet safety programs. At first we worked with elementary-school aged children but soon decided to develop activities for preschoolers and their parents as well as kindergarten professionals.
Children are going online at a young age, using various devices and oftentimes without adult supervision. These risks of the internet can be minimised, and its benefits maximised, if young children go online with an adult who guides them, chooses their content, encourages them to think critically and discuss their experiences. Caregivers are key to children successfully learning the basic concepts of responsible and safe internet use.
By gearing the project to pre-school aged children, their parents and kindergarten professionals, we will strengthen their competencies in supporting children to grow up as responsible internet users who know how to stay safe online. During the project parents and children will learn to support children by using games, content and discussion to learn the basics about internet safety.
The project aims to make the Internet a positive and safe tool for children taking their first steps online.
Goals:
- Teach parents about how to take an active role in their children's upbringing during the digital age.
- Give kindergarten-aged children age-appropriate knowledge about how to recognise and avoid dangerous situations on the internet.
- Increase the capacity of kindergarten professionals on how to encourage the development of good online habits.
The project includes a number of kindergartens from Pula, Rovinj, Pazin and Buzet, Opatija, Cres, Umag and Novigrad financed by the Ministry of Demography, Families and Social Policies. In 2017 activities in Zagreb were also financed by the City of Zagreb. In the future, we plan to include kindergartens from even more regions in Croatia.
Project activities are geared towards parents and kindergarten professionals, the people who spend the most time with kindergarten-aged children. In collaboration with professionals, we created a program where children learn about the internet through play, using an interactive storybook (which we created during the project) and discussion about possible situations they will encounter online.
Through educational articles, video clips and during workshops, we will teach parents about online safety for children, the importance of taking responsibility for teaching children about being responsible internet users (for themselves and others).
Parents are responsible for providing children basic knowledge and information on how to be good digital citizens, much in the same way as they teach them etiquette and acceptable public behaviour. For this reason, Roda has been active in Internet safety since 2014. At first we worked with elementary-school aged children but soon after decided to develop activities for preschoolers and their parents as well as professionals who spend a lot of time with children – their kindergarten teachers.
