Think Before You Click – Interactive Storybook for Parents and Children

When is the right time start talking to children about online safety? The answer is deceptively simple – the moment you let a child use any device that can access online content. European research has shown that this is when children are of preschool age; research at Zagreb's Polyclinic for the Protection of Children prepared in 2016-7 confirms these European findings.

An interactive storybook – Think Before You Click – was developed to help parents teach children about basic concepts of online safety. It does so in a way that is age-appropriate and that takes into account the ways young children use the internet.

The storybook guides children through discussions on complex questions like what is the internet, can we believe everything we see online, can someone online have a fake identity, what should we do if we see something we don't understand, can we give out our personal information, in a way that is fun and age-appropriate. The story's heroes help guide parents and children through an excellent teaching tool.

Raising safe and responsible internet users is up to the adults. When we use it responsibly, the internet can be a useful tool, and it is up to adults to guide children as they grow up online. Let's help children be safe and responsible internet users the moment they step into the digital realm.

The interactive storybook is available on Roda's website and can be installed on PCs; a version for mobile devices will be available soon.