Wifi's game finale marks Safer Internet Day 2019 in Latvia

The Latvian Safer Internet Centre (SIC) celebrated Safer Internet Day (SID) 2019 by organising the national finale of the "Wifi's game" tournament, launching social media campaign "Сut into root!", announcing a contest for pupils "Challenge your grey cells!", as well as by supporting the organisation of online safety events at schools and libraries across Latvia.

Date 2019-03-08 Author Latvian Safer Internet Centre
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Wifi's game finale

On Tuesday, 5 February 2019, the finale of the "Wifi's game" tournament was organised for third and fourth grade pupils to improve their cooperation and communication skills, consolidate their knowledge of online safety, and develop their digital and critical thinking skills.

Pupils from 38 schools and their teachers participated in the finale, which was livetsreamed on the internet. The participants had to answer to tricky questions about safe internet use and share their experience on how to protect their privacy and their personal data online.  A fourth grader from the Riga French Lyceum, Elēna, won the finale and was awarded as the cleverest and most competent user of the internet among third and fourth grade students in Latvia.

The event was led by multi-artist Kašers, Emīls and Ieva, the moderators of Latvian TV programme "Mēs ar brāli kolosāli". The knowledge of the participants was evaluated by a jury: Maija Katkovska, representing the Latvian SIC, Ina Gudele, CEO of the Latvian Internet Association, and Kristaps Skutelis, a technology expert. More than 2,700 people watched the event online on the Latvian SIC's website drossinternets.lv and on the Facebook page.

"Cut into root!" campaign

On Safer Internet Day 2019, the Latvian SIC launched a social media campaign "Cut into root!", calling on online users to pay attention to illegal content, to report such cases and to benefit, if needed, from expert consultations via a new mobile application titles "Drošs Internets" (in English "Safe Internet"). The application is an easy tool and support instrument, which enables reporting cases like emotional violence and financial fraud, sexual abuse of children and illegal content.

The mobile application also allows to find answers to the most frequently asked questions, for example, how to act if somebody has got access to your social media account and changed your password, how to restrict children's access to undesired contents, what to do if somebody blackmails you with your nude photos, and so on. The application also offers a selection of links to popular social networks containing useful information about privacy settings, controls and recommended actions in case of problems.

A survey carried out by the Latvian SIC in cooperation with "Norstat Latvia" shows that every second respondent had to deal with violations on the internet. 15 per cent or every seventh respondent admits having come across a fake profile. Meanwhile, 47 per cent of respondents recognise that their children probably also deal with such situations, without informing their parents. Unfortunately, the results show that 39 per cent of parents have never asked their children about their negative experiences online.

The social media campaign lasted throughout February 2019, and the videos were published on social networks to promote the mobile application.

The application may be downloaded on the Drossinternets.lv website.

"Challenge your grey cells!" contest

Throughout February, every pupil could participate in a contest called "Challenge your grey cells!" by completing an online test. The test was developed for four age categories, with different questions for every age group, and aimed to improve pupils' media literacy and critical thinking skills about online safety. More than 16,000 pupils completed the test and participated in the contest. Links to the test can be found on the website of Drossinternets.lv. Out of all the participants, 20 lucky winners were drawn and received presents from the Latvian SIC.

In addition, more than 100 events for children and teenagers were organised in 62 schools, libraries and youth centres across Latvia to celebrate Safer Internet Day. The map of the events is available here.

Check the Latvian Safer Internet Day profile page for further information.

Find out more information about the work of the Latvian Safer Internet Centre (SIC) generally, including its awareness raising, helpline, hotline and youth participation services, or find similar information for Safer Internet Centres throughout Europe.

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