SID 2018 across Ukraine

The Ukrainian state, together with non-governmental organisations, businesses, educational institutions, media and libraries, recently took part in the traditional annual Safer Internet Day celebrations, along with some 140 countries across the world. Read on to find out more about the many activities and initiatives which took place.

Date 2018-04-30 Author Ukraine Safer Internet Day Committee Section awareness, sid

More than 1,400 organisations registered for Safer Internet Day activities in Ukraine and received an Open Badge of "SID supporter 2018" while, in total, over 67,000 children, young people and teachers took part in registered activities. Within the scope of Safer Internet Day celebrations, children, young people, parents and educators discovered the internet as a tool and a space for development, while also becoming familiar with the ways in which to protect themselves from online threats.

The Internet Association of Ukraine held a press conference on the occasion of the Safer Internet Day in the UNIAN Agency. "Internet security is not only the security of content, it is also a guarantee of the right of citizens to access the internet, as well as security of the functioning of the telecommunication infrastructure", said the Head of the Association.

A Forum, titled "The digital transformation of education", was organised by the Google Educator Group Ukraine for more than 120 Ukrainian educators from secondary and high schools. The key idea of the Forum was the promotion of safe and confident use of all the benefits offered by the internet, while pedagogical innovations and peculiarities of the use of digital technologies in the classroom were also demonstrated.
In addition, an all-Ukrainian webinar on internet security for more than 6,000 children and youngsters was conducted by Cisco Academy in cooperation with the Department of the Cyber Police of Ukraine and ERC.

Since 2016, the Ukraine Safer Internet Day Committee has established a network of regional coordinators for more successful promotion of safer and better internet practices across Ukraine.

Each of the organisations responsible for coordinating Safer Internet Day activities in the regions of the country has been fully engaged in the creation of a better internet with governmental and non-governmental partners and industry. Activities included a scientific conference on child safety online (Kirovograd), competitions for children (Zaporizhzhya), seminars for pedagogues and children (Zakarpattya, Zaporizhzhya, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Rivne), events and exhibitions for youth (Zhitomyr), a roundtable for representatives of the IT-industry (Vinnytsia), and more.

A team of enthusiastic experts, working for five years as the SID National Committee, decided to establish the NGO "Better Internet Centre" in December 2017 for promoting safe use of digital technologies through research, participation and education in Ukraine.

Within the framework of Safer Internet Day activities, NGO "Better Internet Centre" implemented the idea of "10 days of intensive preparation for the Safer Internet Day celebration" through the SID in Ukraine Facebook page. Each day focused on one topic from human rights online to key points for educational activities on online safety. During each day, participants got acquainted with informational and educational materials on the topic, and undertook practical tasks in their private or professional life. Educational materials had more than 76,139 views and downloads, and have been assessed by educators and librarians as one of the most useful resources (relevant evaluation forms for Safer Internet Day celebration in Ukraine were provided at the end of the campaign).

On the eve of the Safer Internet Day, 5 February 2018, educators from almost 440 educational institutions and libraries across Ukraine took part in all-Ukrainian webinar, "Safe Internet", on SID key messages and the practical implementation of the key conclusions of "The state of the world's children 2017: Children in a Digital world". The webinar was conducted by Olena Chernykh from the Ukraine SID Committee, and was organised by the Institute of Modernization of Educational Content of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, NGO "Better Internet Centre" and Microsoft Ukraine.

Special information materials on child safety online and Safer Internet Day have been produced in different journals for educators across Ukraine within the cooperation of the Ukraine SID Committee and the publishing agency "School World".

The Guide for Pedagogues with training activities for teens and youth on human rights online has been expanded. In contains success stories of children's online participation, tips for receiving support, and health management during digital device use. Training activities provide opportunities to share clear information about online content and behaviour that is illegal, as well as the possibility to report alleged illegal content. It also provides information on protection from interference, to physical, mental and moral welfare, prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse on the internet, as well as other forms of cybercrime.

The results and evidence of academic research permits us to increase the efficiency of our practice. According to the results described in the article "Teenager's safe online behaviour and the level of key competencies development", 54.8 per cent of teenagers responded: "I do not get any support from parents on safe internet use". In our opinion, this high percentage response is caused by the fact that parents are "digital immigrants" and they are not always aware of possible internet threats. Therefore, the large part of SID 2018 activities focused on non-formal education activities for parents and caregivers, development of their competences on safe online behaviour, and ways in which to help and support their children.

"Ideas for parents", created by the SID Committee, were much appreciated not only by teachers and parents but local authorities as well. Many local authorities put it on the official websites of their cities and towns.
All of the above mentioned are just a part of different trainings, seminars, discussions, meetings, press conferences and other events that were organised on different levels by numerous stakeholders in Ukraine working towards a safer and better Internet.

See the Ukraine Safer Internet Day Committee profile page.

See the Safer Internet Day website.

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