Back2School 2018

***The year-long #SaferInternet4EU campaign was launched on Safer Internet Day 2018, to promote online safety, media literacy and cyber-hygiene. The content of the campaign is preserved here for information purposes only.***
 

Back2School 2018 banner image

It's September, so teachers, pupils and students are all saying goodbye to their summer holidays and gearing up for the new school year. To kick off the new academic year on the right foot, #SaferInternet4EU is launching a #Back2School mini campaign to help EU citizens stay safe both online and off!
 
Watch the campaign launch video from Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, below:
 

 
We know that it's not easy to say goodbye to sun-basking and holiday fun and go back to the classroom, so we'd like to make this return to the school benches light, adventurous and informative! With the #Back2School campaign, we would like to take you on a (virtual) road trip around the EU to explore the best of online safety events, tips and resources! This year, we'll be focusing on raising awareness about six of the main online safety risks or risky behaviours (namely sexting, cyberbullying, the Internet of Things, disturbing online content, fake news and grooming). Throughout the month of September, the iconic yellow school bus will take you on numerous adventures across Europe to explore and make the most of the many national campaigns promoting online safety practices. 
 
Commissioner Gabriel launches the #SaferInternet4EU Back2School campaign
 
So hop on the #SaferInternet4EU school bus, have a look at our map (below) to decide your itinerary, hit play on our EU roadtrip playlist and make sure you follow the #SaferInternet4EU hashtag on social media – we'll be highlighting new events and best practices from across the Insafe network through both our Facebook and Twitter channels - be sure to check them out.
 
Start this school year with a bang and make online safety your priority! See also the press release on the European Commission website or download the EC's Back2School with #SaferInternet4EU factsheet.
 
Alternatively, browse Back2School events and activities by country:
 

Austria

For information on Back2School activities in Austria, and educational resources in general, please contact the Austrian Safer Internet Centre.
 

Belgium

As part of its Back2School activities, the Belgian Safer Internet Centre (SIC) has prepared a the premiere of the theatre play "Sex Thing" in French, and will also be launching a localised version of the "Be Internet Awesome" project with Google.
 
For further information, please contact the Belgian Safer Internet Centre.
 

Bulgaria

The Bulgarian Safer Internet Centre's Back2School activities include:
  • Distribution of 30,000 school timetables with online safety messages in the framework of the Back2School campaign through offices of Orange and Lidl during September and October 2018.

Bulgarian Safer Internet Centre's Back2School eSafety timetable

  • Organisation of a joint campaign against cyberbullying with Cartoon Network. Titled "You have the power - Be a friend", the campaign will also benefit from the participation of popular vloggers. It will run from 20 September to 20 October 2018 - see more at http://budipriatel.cartoonnetwork.bg. In line with this, a whole class (1st to 8th grade) competition will take place to design a T-shirt with a message on friendship online. This best design, as selected by a class jury, will win a multimedia projector.
     
  • A "Teacher leader in the digital era" campaign will be organised for all schools with lesson plans prepared by the Bulgarian Safer Internet Centre (SIC) for 1-4, 5-7 and 8-11 grades dedicated to "Search, verification and assessment of online information and content." The campaign will launch on 1 November and run until mid-December 2018. Packages of awareness-raising materials will be provided to participating schools, and feedback will be gathered from teachers.
For further information, please contact the Bulgarian Safer Internet Centre.
 

Croatia

As part of its Back2School activities, the Croatian Safer Internet Centre (SIC) will host two information days in  main squares where it will share a brochure with information about the helpline and flyers with advice for safer internet use. It will also be disseminating its new flyer for elementary school students - #Be Cool@School, which encourages the use of internet for school assignments, while warning about checking all information and being alert to fake news. Furthermore, during September, the SIC will deliver a number of web detective seminars for students in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior. For further information, please contact the Croatian Safer Internet Centre.
 

Cyprus

In Cyprus, a Back2school campaign will run from September, and will include the following activities:
  • The Cyprus Pedagogical Institute (CPI), in cooperation with the Pancyprian School for Parents, will launch a booklet for parents on online challenges, providing explanations and advice.
     
  • The Cyprus Pedagogical Institute (CPI) will launch a new video promoting the 1480 Helpline-Hotline. The new video will be accompanied by a lesson plan and presentation for teachers.

Still from a promotional video from the Cyprus Pedagogical Institute (CPI).

  • The University of Cyprus, in cooperation with Cyprus Pedagogical Institute (CPI), will be promoting the "eFollowMe" digital footprint game. This is a 3D-game, implemented in the Unity game engine, that asks players to participate in several challenges to see how they respond to different situations related to their digital footprint when navigating the web. Participants are also asked to answer several questions regarding their digital footprint and get a score based on their answers. Detailed information on its use is provided on the dedicated project website, while the game can also be downloaded since it is available for Windows and Mac operating systems.

eFollowMe digital footprint game

  • The Cyprus Pedagogical Institute (CPI) will be promoting the "Happy Onlife" game and activity book, aimed at raising awareness on the risks and opportunities of the internet and promoting best online practices.
     
  • Several new resources will be launched: an online learning quiz on online choices, lesson plans and presentations for teachers on internet challenges and risks, leaflets for social media (Twitter, Viber, YouTube, and so on) and online risks (sexting, cyberbullying, grooming, sextortion) (see https://internetsafety.pi.ac.cy/ and https://www.e-epimorfosi.ac.cy/).
     
  • The "Young Coaches for the Internet" educational programme will run until the end of the year. The programme aims to educate students to become young coaches for the internet in their school and the wider community, through the development and implementation of an action plan. At the same time, the school's action plans, actions and educational material are uploaded to the programme portal, while the participating schools can decide on the ones that they would like to be published on the portal's public website.
     
  • The "eSafe School for the Internet" educational programme will run until the end of the year. The programme aims to create a culture within schools and the wider community for the use of the internet with creativity, safety and responsibility, through the development and implementation of an action plan. At the same time, the school's action plans, actions and educational material are uploaded to the programme portal, while the participating schools can decide on the ones that they would like to be published on the portal's public website. More information on the programme, as well as sample lesson plans and instructions, can be found at the programme website.
     
  • CyberSafety partners will continue providing seminars, workshops and presentations to schools.
For further information, please contact the Cypriot Safer Internet Centre.
 

Czech Republic

The Czech Safer Internet Centre's Back2School campaign will run throughout September, and includes the following activities:
  • Chain of trainings focusing on the theme "(Un)safe cell phone" for children of elementary schools.
  • Launch of the Prague safety online campaign. The campaign will start on 1 September 2018 and will include more than 220 safer internet lectures for pupils of elementary schools in four districts of Prague. The next activity of the Prague safety online campaign will focus on seniors and grandparents.
  • Publication of the cartoon book "How to use the internet safely?". The cartoon book will be published by the CZ.NIC Association by the end of September.
For further information, please contact the Czech Safer Internet Centre.
 

Denmark

As part of its Back2School activities, the Danish Safer Internet Centre (SIC) recently launched a documentary film about future classroom teachers and how to teach pupils in secondary school about data ethics, human rights online and the influence of the internet. The project is called #sammendigitalt ("Together digitally") and can be viewed on the Danish Film Institute website.
 
In addition, an online magazine has been launched titled "The internet as a platform for lies, manipulation and propaganda", tackling the topic of online radicalisation. Through five chapters, the magazine sheds light on the following issues:
  1. The internet as a machine - covering algorithms, digital footprints, echo chambers, filter bubbles, cryptation, privacy and the dark web.
  2. Between information and misinformation on the internet - covering fake news, alternative facts, propaganda, trolls and bot-nets.
  3. Hate speech and the limitations of freedom of speech - covering online hate, the limits of freedom of speech, regulation, take-downs and censorship.
  4. Young, vulnerable and on a dangerous path - covering digital empowerment, grooming, vulnerability and radicalisation, and a sense of belonging.
  5. Digital empowerment against extreme messages - covering the role of the grown-ups.
The publication consists of text, visuals, podcasts and videos with expert interviews. A former extremist, a survivor from the Utøya attack (Oslo 2011), and a world-renowned expert researcher shed some light on the topic, while an animated story takes viewers through the grooming process of a young girl. In short, the magazine is a publication for parents and professional adults, that will enlighten them in the role of the internet in relation to the radicalisation of young people. The magazine has been developed in collaboration with the National Center to Prevent Extremism, The National Security Agency and the Media Council for Children and Young People in Denmark. It is in Danish but can be made available for translation. To access the magazine, visit www.nettetsvildveje.dk.
 
For further information, please contact the Danish Safer Internet Centre.
 

Estonia

Each year in Estonia, the Estonian Union for Child Welfare (part of the Estonian Safer Internet Centre (SIC)), together with its partners, launch a School Peace campaign which calls upon schools, students, teachers, parents and other supporters to sign an agreement which declares that the signed person agrees to respect co-students, teachers and other school personnel - the agreement includes behaviour online. Further information (in Estonian) is available on the Targalt internetis website.
 
Awareness-raising materials related to online issues will be sent to schools later in September, including a survey for students and teachers.
 
For further information, please contact the Estonian Safer Internet Centre.
 

Finland

Various activities will be taking place in Finland throughout September, including:
  • Publication of new materials for parents: "8 Questions about small child's media use" and "8 Questions about teenagers media use" .
  • Publication of a report on online peer-based sexual harassment.
  • Trainer training for Online Safety Trainers visiting schools.
  • An awareness-raising campaign about online child sexual abuse and harassment, and easy access for support. 
  • A seminar for professionals on combatting child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
For further information, please contact the Finnish Safer Internet Centre.
 

France

The French Safer Internet Centre (SIC) will be organising a Back2School campaign for parents and teachers.
 
For further information, please contact the French Safer Internet Centre.
 

Germany

With all German states back to school as of this week (w/c 10 September 2018), klicksafe is running a Back2School campaign, supporting pupils, teachers and parents with information and materials around online safety and school. Each day during the week, another focus topic will be promoted: from the updated lesson materials on Wikipedia and teaching materials about sexting for teachers, to information and an updated flyer about "digital addiction" for parents, for example. All information is spread via the klicksafe website (www.klicksafe.de/back2school) as well as Facebook (www.facebook.de/klicksafe) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/klicksafe).
 
For further information, please contact the German Safer Internet Centre.
 

Greece

At the beginning of the new school year, the Greek Safer Internet Centre (SIC) is launching an education package with tips, lessons plans, quizzes, an animated video, brochures, posters and presentations on the safe use of the internet. The "Back to school package" targets young children and older students in primary and high schools, while it also contains useful tips and visual parenting instructions. This year's special focus is on protecting personal data on the internet without omitting other critical issues related to safe use of the internet by children such as addiction, online games, cyberbullying, contact with strangers, and so on. The "Back to school package" will be announced immediately after the start of the school year in Greece and resource will be made available on the SaferInternet4Kids.gr website.
 
At the end of September, the Greek SIC will launch an awareness campaign on online addiction through social media and informative talks in schools.
 
Also launching will be new materials for parents: a guide that contains tips for parents on all issues related to online child safety.
 
In addition, the SIC will participate in two major information events for parents. The first event will take place in the context of the Thessaloniki International Exhibition οn 14 September 2018: this is the largest annual exhibition in the country, involving thousands of people. Τhe second event will take place οn 15 September 2018 in the framework of the P100 Children's Festival in Technopolis in the Municipality of Athens.
 
Finally, a meeting of the Greek SIC Youth Panel will take place at the end of September 2018.
 
For further information, please contact the Greek Safer Internet Centre.
 

Hungary

As part of its Back2School activities, the Hungarian Safer Internet Centre (SIC) will take part in a live roadshow in big cities in Hungary. The SIC, and other NGOs and companies, will help to raise awareness of internet safety issues, especially for young people. The SIC will also be showcasing its live board game, Likehunter, among other activities.
 
For further information, please contact the Hungarian Safer Internet Centre.
 

Iceland

The Icelandic Safer Internet Centre (SIC) will launch of a new online MOOC on digital citizenship for teachers to coincide with with the start of the new school year.
 
For further information generally, please contact the Icelandic Safer Internet Centre.
 

Ireland

Webwise launched a social media campaign targeting teens in Ireland as part of its Back2School campaign activities. The campaign, titled #BeInCtrl, addresses the topic of online sexual coercion and extortion of young people. The 90-second film tells the story of Michelle and Daniel, two Irish teenagers who strike up friendships with a male and female online after receiving friend requests. The relationships take a dark turn when Michelle is coerced into sharing nude pictures and Daniel is blackmailed after sending nudes.
 
The film aims to raise awareness that extortion and coercion are crimes and that they should be reported, and it also aims to promote safe online communication. The campaign is created in partnership with Irish law enforcement and launched during the week commencing Monday, 10 September 2018 on social media. Watch the video here:

For further information, please contact the Irish Safer Internet Centre.
 

Italy

As part of its Back2School activities, the Italian Safer Internet Centre (SIC) will launch, in cooperation with Google, a campaign named "vivi Internet al sicuro" involving students, teachers and parents in awareness-raising activities. 
 
Moreover, two leaflets on the topic of GDPR (the General Data Protection Regulation) will be delivered: one for parents and teachers, and one for students.
 
Last but not least, a communication campaign on a video tutorial about the positive use and content of the internet will be launched.
 
For further information, please contact the Italian Safer Internet Centre.
 

Latvia

As part of Latvia's Back2School activities, a set of educational materials will be distributed to schools and available on the Safer Internet Centre's website at drossinternets.lv. The materials include a board game for primary schools, teaching material with methods how to develop critical thinking, and a poster for youngsters featuring challenges to make the internet experience safer.
 
In addition, a campaign titled "Superheroes on the internet" will be launched in cooperation with the State Police and Ministry of Culture. Short videos of two superheroes teaching children safe behaviour on the internet will be supplemented with methodological material for pedagogues and parents. Material will consist of instructions, tasks, tests and useful information for discussing the video topics with children. 
 
For further information, please contact the Latvian Safer Internet Centre.
 

Lithuania

Back2School actions of the the Lithuanian Safer Internet Centre (SIC) include:
  • Safer internet education with smart boards - during September, a series of lesson plans for teachers of primary school children will be published, dedicated to education using smart boards. The lesson plans cover various internet safety topics, such as privacy online, safe passwords, posting pictures online, cyberbullying, social networks, internet content, and so on. The plans can be downloaded at http://pamokos.bmk.lt/lt/smart-pamokos (registration needed).
     
  • A video series for parents will be launched, introducing a variety of social networks, trends such as vlogging, and general tips on helping their kids to deal with online safety issues. In the videos, Lithuanian Safer Internet Youth Forum members also share their experiences, express their opinions, and deliver messages for parents. Six videos will be announced during September, and made available via the SIC's YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/LangasiAteitiLt.
For further information, please contact the Lithuanian Safer Internet Centre.
 

Luxembourg

BEE SECURE, the Luxembourgish Safer Internet Centre (SIC), will launch its new awareness-raising campaign "LOVE STORIES 4.0 – What's your story?". The aim of this campaign is to provide an overview of how romantic relationships are affected by new media and technologies: does a partner's "like" have an impact on the relationship, how do people fall in love on the internet, but also how do people deal with lust on the internet?
 
At the youth music festival On Stéitsch, the campaign will be featured at an information and animation stand.
 
In addition to this, a new training concept for schools based on gamification will be launched as part of the Back2School activities.
 
Last but not least, useful print resources on passwords and technical settings will be updated and released during September.
 
For further information, please contact the Luxembourgish Safer Internet Centre.
 

Malta

As part of its Back2School activities, the Maltese Safer Internet Centre (SIC) will be placing an online banner on the websites of leading newspapers (such as www.timesofmalta.com) for a whole week, together with an advert for its back-to-school supplement. People will be directed to the BeSmartOnline! website whereby they'll find useful resources, articles and other information regarding internet safety. As schools return in late September in Malta, other Back2School activities will continue throughout September and in to October.
 
For further information, please contact the Maltese Safer Internet Centre.
 

Netherlands

For information on Back2School activities in the Netherlands, and educational resources in general, please contact the Dutch Safer Internet Centre.
 
Norway
As part of its Back2School activities, the Norwegian Safer Internet Centre (SIC) is organising a seminar together with the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training and the Norwegian fact-checking service Faktisk.no, focusing on media literacy, source criticism and how to foster digitally robust children. The event will take place in the Kulturhuset in Oslo on Thursday, 6 September 2018. More information is available on the Facebook event page.
 
Also during September, the Norwegian SIC will present the latest findings on source criticism from the Children and Media 2018 survey, and launch its latest resource "Fake News - media literacy and critical thinking". 
 
For further information, please contact the Norwegian Safer Internet Centre.
 

Poland

The 12th International Conference "Keeping Children and Young People Safe Online" will take place at the Novotel Warszawa Airport (street 1 Sierpnia number 1, Warsaw) on 18-19 September 2018. The conference is organised by the Polish and German Safer Internet Centres, which have been working together within the European Commission's Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Programme. The co-organiser of the event is International Telecommunication Union and the main partner of the conference is the Orange Foundation.
 
As in previous years, the conference will be devoted to a broad spectrum of issues related to the safety of children and young people on the internet. It is addressed to the representatives of the education sector, NGOs, the judiciary and law enforcement agencies, and internet content service providers. The conference aims at raising awareness about the new challenges and opportunities in fighting online threats as well as at popularising best practices across different sectors. See the saferinternet.pl website for further information and online registration.
 
September will also see the launch of new 10-hour prevention programme against cyberbullying in Poland.
 
For further information, please contact the Polish Safer Internet Centre.
 

Portugal

The Portuguese Safer Internet Centre (SIC), through IPDJ (Portuguese Institute for Sport and Youth), will launch a Digital Trading Cards Album in a public session taking place in Vasco da Gama School, in  Lisbon, on Wednesday, 19 September 2018 at 16:00 (Lisbon time).
 
This Digital Trading Cards Album has the main objective of informing young people and parents about safe and responsible use of the internet. It covers several issues in a playful and pleasant way using comic strips, such as online games, data protection, social networks, fake news, cyberbullying, privacy and critical thinking, among many other topics.
 
Portuguese Digital Trading Cards Album resource
 
This resource is a product of the Portuguese SIC consortium. The launch event is an integrated action of the Portuguese Back2School campaign. As such, this session will be replicated in schools or IPDJ Youth Information Centres in all of the main cities of the 18 districts of Portugal in the days following the launch event.
 
For further information, please contact the Portuguese Safer Internet Centre.
 

Romania

The Romanian Safer Internet Centre (SIC) will be launching an anti-cyberbullying campaign as part of its Back2School initiative. The campaign will encourage secondary education teachers to engage in educational activities in the classroom using video resources and lesson plans developed by the SIC's team of experts. The initiative will be launched nationwide in early October 2018; one in seven children in Romania say that they have witnessed cyberbullying instances.
 
For further information, please contact the Romanian Safer Internet Centre.
 

Russia

For information on Back2School activities in Russia, and educational resources in general, please contact the Russian Safer Internet Centre.
 
Slovakia
The key activity linked to the Back2School 2018 campaign in Slovakia is dedicated training of the students of pedagogic faculties around universities in Slovakia, while targeting the main Slovakian Safer Internet Centre (SIC) topics, such as hate speech/antiziganism, racism, xenophobia, prejudice/cyberbullying, addictions, intellectual property, killfies/URBEX (urban exploration), neo-fascism/recruiting, and sextortion.
 
For further information, please contact the Slovakian Safer Internet Centre.

Slovenia

The Slovenian Safer Internet Centre (SIC) will be organising various events and activities within the framework of its Back2School campaign.
 
The SIC will organise educational and promotional activities connected to the film for teenagers, Gaja's world, which, among others, also covers the topic of dangers on the internet (meeting strangers online, fake profiles, hacking, sexting, excessive use, and so on). The Slovenian Awareness Centre, Safe.si, will be participating in a presentation for pupils at a pre-premiere of the film for schools on Thursday, 6 September 2018 at the Kolosej movie theatre. From September 2018 onwards, Safe.si youth trainers will carry out presentations for schools after seeing the film in cinemas around Slovenia. Safe.si is also preparing a school lesson plan for teachers connected to the relevant online safety topics from the film.
 
More information about the film is available on the Slovenian Film Centre website, while scenes from the movie (in Slovenian language) connected with the topic of online dangers can be viewed on the Safe.si website.
 
In other activities, a public conference, titled "E-abuse of children: from theory to practice" will be organised by the Slovenian hotline, Spletno oko, on Thursday, 27 September 2018 at the Faculty of Social Sciences in Ljubljana. The event is aimed at law enforcement authorities, prosecutors, internet service providers, lawmakers, school and social workers, and NGOs, in order to deepen the knowledge for successfully addressing the problem in practice. More information (in Slovenian) is available on the Spletno oko website.
 
For further information generally, please contact the Slovenian Safer Internet Centre.
 

Spain

Activities in Spain will see the launch of the "Vuelta al cole" (Back to school) campaign targeting parents, educators and the general public, to promote a healthy and positive use of the internet among minors. Planned activities include: 
  • "From the beginning": resources for educators to explain the importance of safety and security online to families (17-21/09/2018).
  • "I want my own smartphone!": tips for parents about their children's relationship with technology and first steps when minors get their own device (24-29/09/2018).
  • "With my tablet in my backpack": recommendations for BYOD (bring your own device) in schools (01-05/10/2018). 
  • "Internet at school, under control": information resources for educators (08-15/10/2018).
Contact the Spanish Safer Internet Centre for more information or visit www.is4k.es.
 

United Kingdom

The UK Safer Internet Centre (SIC) have launched and updated a host of Back2School resources on the Childnet website including:
The SIC has also launched a brand new website showcasing the work of the Childnet Digital Leaders Programme which includes video content and testimonials.
 
For further information, please contact the UK Safer Internet Centre.