Young people and digital citizenship – a "Breakfast Byte" by BIK Youth Ambassadors

From Monday, 11 to Wednesday, 20 May 2020, COFACE Families Europe will mark the International Day of Families 2020 by holding their Digital Citizenship Breakfast Bytes, a series of eight 90-minute online sessions (from 9:30-11:00 CET) aiming to increase critical thinking and understanding of the digital world. The Better Internet for Kids (BIK) Youth Ambassadors will host one of these sessions on "Are youth all natural digital citizens?"

Date 2020-05-06 Author BIK Team Section awareness, youth Audience children and young people

The onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown measures taken all over the world have plunged families, children, workers, consumers and more, into the digital age. Digital technologies are now enabling schooling, working, socialising, gaming, staying connected with family and friends – this will have long-lasting impacts on how our societies function. Besides, at European level, the European Commission's Strategy to deliver a Better Internet for Children is currently under revision and will contribute to setting new ambitious goals in that regard. In this context, digital citizenship and critical thinking have become more important than ever.

Kicking off with a video address by Executive Vice-President of the European Commission (EC) Margrethe Vestager, the eight Digital Citizenship Breakfast Bytes will allow participants to get a better understanding of digital citizenship in its different dimensions – online safety, human rights, security, privacy, participation and more.

Four BIK Youth Ambassadors – Lili from Austria, Simona from Bulgaria, Joana and Joao from Portugal will host the last Breakfast Byte on Wednesday, 20 May 2020. As the internet has fundamentally transformed the way our societies function nowadays, with children growing up using digital technologies in different life environments (family, school, socialising, civic participation), this online session will look at whether young people navigate the online world better than other generations, and make for more natural digital citizens and critical thinkers.

For more information about the BIK Youth programme, visit betterinternetforkids.eu/youth.

To learn more about the COFACE Families Europe Digital Citizenship Breakfast Bytes, including the full programme, and to register for the sessions, visit coface-eu.org.

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