Modernize Internet offerings for children

As part of the initiative "Ein Netz für Kinder", the modernization of high-quality websites for children has been promoted since September 2017. This is intended to improve child-friendly offerings on the web for use on mobile devices and increasingly offer them in multiple languages. This means that the funding program of the "Ein Netz für Kinder" initiative now has a new, technically oriented funding focus, whereas the previous focus was on expanding the diversity of offerings on the Internet.

The scientific basis for this decision was provided by a recent study byHouse of Research on the market for media education digital offerings for children in German-speaking countries. In the multi-method study, both the supply side and the usage side were analyzed using content analyses and surveys. Based on numerous interviews with children, parents, educators and teachers, the study sheds light on their different perspectives on the media world. Based on interviews with (inter)national experts, the previous support program "Ein Netz für Kinder" (A Network for Children) is evaluated and ten recommendations for action are given for the design of the program, which has since been amended. The report, which is around 300 pages long, is available for download on the BKM website .

Providers of children's online offerings can now request funding for the technical modernization of their websites to meet mobile usage habits. In addition, the translation of German-language online offerings into Arabic, Farsi, Turkish, Russian and English, for example, will be financially supported. The new funding guidelines are valid until Dec. 31, 2018, and applications to "promote the mobile capability and multilingualism of quality websites suitable for children" can be submitted to the "Ein Netz für Kinder" office at the German Federal Film Board (FFA) by Oct. 30, 2017. The funding guidelines and further information are available at www.enfk.de.

The "A Network for Children" funding program is one pillar of the initiative of the same name, which was launched in 2007 jointly by politicians, industry and youth media protection institutions. The other pillar is the children's search engine fragFINN.de, which is supported by business and youth media protection institutions.

Further information

• Current inventory and needs analysis in the area of digital child-oriented offerings for teaching media literacy, as well as evaluation of the German government's "Ein Netz für Kinder" (A Network for Children) funding program.
• Initiative "A network for children"
• Press and Information Office of the Federal Government