Internet guide for parents published
The online Internet guide(www.elternguide.online) will be published on Safer Internet Day. It helps parents competently guide their children in the use of apps, games, websites and social networks. This includes age-appropriate information on safe media use for children, recommended offerings and options for protecting minors. The platform also presents current media phenomena and their potential challenges. Parents learn what role they can play in their children's media education and what influence media have on the development of children and young people.
Last year, results of the parent survey conducted as part of the "Youth Media Protection Index - Dealing with Online-Related Risks" study revealed deficits in knowledge about youth media protection and media education. The new Internet guide for parents addresses this issue with compact and comprehensive information tailored to the target group.
With the help of an interactive questionnaire (Guided Tour), parents can access targeted content and assistance that provides answers to the questions and needs they have. The starting point is the age of the child (infant, early childhood, elementary school age, adolescence and youth).
Easy access to suitable content, as well as audiovisual formats and simple, clear language, also allow parents to be reached who have not yet been reached by classic web offerings or methods of parental work. A broad network of partners guarantees both the professional and pedagogical support of the offering as well as its dissemination via many communication channels. The partners Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk, fragFINN, FSM, JFF and klicksafe are involved in the content design of the guide. Thanks to the supporter Facebook, a long-term maintenance of the offer as well as the distribution on the platform most used by the target group is ensured.
On the occasion of the international Safer Internet Day, the Internet Guide for Parents will be presented to a broad audience today at an event in Berlin together with all partners(www.facebook.com/elternguide.online/). A panel discussion will also focus on how different types of parents can be addressed and sensitized to the challenges, but also the creative potential, of digital media.
Quotes from partners and supporters
Martin Drechsler, Managing Director FSM e.V.: "Our study "Youth Media Protection Index" has shown that many parents obviously have knowledge gaps when it comes to protection options for their children on the Internet and that they do not know or do not use existing advice and information offers. This is exactly where the new Internet guide for parents comes in, with easy-to-find, target-group-specific and comprehensive information."
Birgit Kimmel, Pedagogical Director of the EU initiative klicksafe: "Parents increasingly need support and help in connection with the use of digital services by their children. Which settings are urgently required in messenger services, for example, and what needs to be considered when setting up these services? Many parents are no longer familiar with technical developments; they feel insecure and left alone. Increasingly, there are also uncertainties about parenting behavior. Am I allowed to check my child's smartphone, or am I perhaps infringing on personal rights? The new Internet guide for parents addresses these questions and aims to provide parents with comprehensive assistance for everyday media use in the family."
Dr. Guido Bröckling, project manager of the JFF's Berlin office: "For media education, addressing parents is always a major challenge. On the one hand, we want to motivate parents to support their children in the meaningful, creative use of media; on the other hand, we want to and must accompany them in protecting their children in their use of media. Simple solutions are out of place here. We therefore need individual, target-group-specific and problem-centered support services such as the new Internet guide for parents."
Holger Hofmann, Federal Director of Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk e.V.: "Particularly in the digital world, the implementation of children's rights faces new challenges. Children have a right to information, to participation, and also to media access and use. At the same time, adults are obligated to protect children and enable them to grow up safely. The Internet guide for parents can provide an initial orientation for finding the right balance and enabling children to use media competently and autonomously as they see fit."
Anke Meinders, Managing Director of fragFINN e.V.: "Successful media education requires positive media content for children. To ensure that all children find and use it, parents need concrete information and examples of use. Answering their individual questions about media education quickly and in a targeted way - that's what the Internet Guide for Parents is all about."
Constanze Osei-Becker, Public Policy Manager, Facebook Germany:
"Technology is changing the way people communicate with each other and opening up new opportunities for networking and participation. Facebook wants to help people benefit from these opportunities and move safely in the digital space. In this context, the promotion of digital skills is essential. Together with partners, Facebook therefore supports projects that help parents and their children with the topics of media skills and safety online."
Further information