International Day of Families: celebrating families, education and well-being

15 May marks the annual United Nations International Day of Families. Each year, the day offers an opportunity to promote awareness of issues relating to families and to increase knowledge of the social, economic and demographic processes affecting them.

Date 2017-05-15 Author BIK Team
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This year's theme is "Families, education and well-being", focusing not only on the role of parents and carers in the education and well-being of children and young people, but more specifically on the role of families in promoting early childhood education and lifelong learning opportunities. Family undoubtedly serves as a central source for the harmonious development and early-age education of children, and remains an important part of the support system needed by children and young people right through to adulthood.

Nowadays, with the emergence of technology and easy access to the internet, children and young people are able to step into a new world, that of the online environment, which is often less familiar to their parents. Therefore, parents and carers need to equip themselves with knowledge and information to be able to offer guidance and support to children and young people when they go online.

To that end, the Insafe network of Safer Internet Centres (SICs) in Europe reaches out to parents and carers with information, resources and training sessions to raise their awareness of online safety issues and help them to support their children to use the internet safely and responsibly. Many resources can be consulted in national languages in the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) Resource gallery, while the BIK Guide to online services provides key information on some of the most popular apps, social networking sites and other platforms which are commonly being used by children and young people (and adults) today.

Likewise, parents and carers can contact their national helpline directly for support and advice on online issues.

To learn more about the International Day of Families and celebrations in your area, access the UN dedicated website or follow events on Twitter using @UNDESASocial and #DayofFamilies.

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