Minister Bianchi's speech opens The data: fewer hours spent online, greater attention to safety
On Tuesday 8 February, the World Day for Network Security will be celebrated around the world, established and promoted by the European Commission. The appointment with Safer Internet Day, accompanied by the usual slogan "Together for a better Internet", includes a full program of initiatives organized by the Ministry of Education, coordinator of the "Generazioni Connesse" project, the Safer Internet Center, Italian Center for security on the Net. The national event will be held at the Ministry, at 10.00, will see the participation of Minister Patrizio Bianchi and can be followed live on the MI YouTube channel.
Activities promoted throughout Italy will then take place with the main partners of “Generazioni Connesse”: the Guarantor Authority for Childhood and Adolescence, the State Police, Telefono Azzurro and Save the Children. On the web, the story of the day will be accompanied by the hashtags # SID2022 and #SICItalia. There will be webinars, live shows and interviews with experts.
The starting point of the reflections that will take place during the 8th day will be the data of the research carried out by Generazioni Connesse, on the quantity and quality of the hours spent on the Net by girls and boys in Italy. The time spent online by young people is reduced: 42% of respondents say they stay connected from 5 to 10 hours a day, compared to 59% in the same period last year. Girls and boys who declare themselves "always connected" drop from 18% in 2021 to 12% in 2022, also thanks to the gradual return to normal after the restrictions of the most difficult period of the pandemic. In the last year, the number of how many and how many declare to be more informed about the risks of the Internet has increased: 55% of young people claim to have received information on online safety, especially from teachers.
Appointments
At the Ministry of Education, on the morning of February 8, institutions, political decision-makers and related experts will meet with young people from lower and upper secondary schools, to explore the issues of Better Internet for Kids Policies, or opportunities and critical issues. connected to the world of digital technologies. Among those present, there will also be the young "activists" of the Youth Panel, made up of schoolchildren enrolled in Generazioni Connesse as representatives of virtuous Italian actions relating to the use of new technologies.
Following, there will be two training webinars, created by the experts of the Safer Internet Center, dedicated to teachers and students: we will talk about digital storytelling and web reputation, new educational proposals for digital citizenship, opportunities and risks of the Internet.
The research
Less time spent online and greater awareness of the risks that can be encountered on the web. This, in summary, is the picture that emerges from the annual research conducted by Generazioni Connesse, in collaboration with Skuola.net, University of Florence and Sapienza University of Rome - CIRMPA, on the occasion of Safer Internet Day 2022, on a sample of 2.472 first and second grade secondary school students.
If, in fact, between 2019 and 2020 the percentage of those who said they were connected from 5 to 10 hours a day had more than doubled - going from 23% to 59% - in the last year the figure has slowly started to return on pre-pandemic levels up to the most recent survey according to which 42% of young people were connected to the web for such a long average time.
Less hours on the Internet even for those who declare that they are "always connected", which drop from 18% recorded in 2021 to 12% in the first survey of 2022. The remaining 46% of adolescents involved in the research, on the other hand, estimate that they go online less than 4 hours a day, against 23% overall 12 months ago.
The awareness of boys and, in particular, of those who exploit the knowledge acquired on the mechanisms of the Internet to help their peers in difficulty increases: in the last year, 95% of the students involved in the research declare that they have supported girls and boys of their own age with tips and tricks to improve their experience in the digital dimension. The most popular? Avoid sharing sensitive data online, pay attention to people known on the Net, do not share private photos and videos on the web, do not share sensitive information about other people without their consent, check the trustworthiness of those who send us links before opening them. Interventions which seem useful, given that while awareness of the potential and risks of the Internet is growing, phenomena such as sexing or cyberbullying are far from defeated. In the last 2-3 months alone, 24% of respondents say they have exchanged their intimate images, while 7% declare that they have been the victim of cyberbullying, in addition to 2% of cyberbullies and 21% of spectators. of such acts.
Among the positive effects that the slow return to normality is having on the digital life of the new generations, there is also a strong focus on online security issues. In the last year, more than half of the young people (55%) say they have received useful information and indications to defend themselves from the dangers of the Internet. A figure almost double compared to twelve months ago, when just 29% said they were confronted on these topics . The role of the school is fundamental: the greater diffusion of digital culture is largely due to the action carried out by teachers. Female students and students who received online safety teaching from their teachers have gone from 12% a year ago to 31% today. However, 68% of girls and boys have never heard of the new regulation for the processing of personal data, the GDPR, which came into force in 2018 and are concerned about the possibility that the websites they visit can share their information. personal with others. Similar percentages are also reported with respect to the tracking of what they do online (a little worried 52%; very worried 39%) and possible unauthorized uses of the data provided (a little worried 65%; very worried 23%).
The communication campaign "The Month of Safety on the Net"
The sixth edition of the “The Month of Network Safety” campaign will start with SID 2022. Throughout the month of February, schools interested in participating in training and awareness-raising activities relating to the conscious use of digital tools will be able to find information relating to events organized by associations, institutions and companies on the website www.generazioniconnesse.it/site/it/ 2022/02/08 / sid-safer-internet-day-2022 /. Social activities can be shared with the hashtag #laretesiamonoi.
The leading schools
All schools will be able to offer a contribution throughout the month of February. It will be possible to upload the events created for the day and throughout the month online, on the website www.generazioniconnesse.it at the following link https://www.generazioniconnesse.it/site/it/iniziative-e-lavori-delle-scuole/ Over the years, Safer Internet Day (SID) has become an eagerly awaited event for all operators in the sector, institutions, civil society organizations. For information on events organized around the world, you can consult the European Commission website dedicated to the day: https://www.saferinternetday.org/.