"Internet: Safe & Fun"

On Tuesday 16 February, Microsoft, Proximus and Child Focus visited 135 schools following "Safer Internet Day", the international day of online safety on 9 February. The campaign is aimed at promoting safe and responsible Internet use among young people. 
Young people are devoted to the Internet but don't always use it safely. So it’s important to teach them about the risks so that they can enjoy themselves in complete safety. 

According to the latest study by CERT on passwords used by Belgians:

• 46.2% of Belgians use a password that doesn’t contain more than 8 characters.
• 1 in 3 Belgians give their password to other people. This figure even rises to 42.9% among under-18s.
• 1 in 4 Belgians use the same password for both work and private activities.

These figures underline the importance of taking preventive measures from an early age. 

Since 2010, twice a year, around 250 employees from Microsoft and Proximus, trained by Child Focus, visit about 700 classrooms in Belgium to raise awareness among 14,000 fifth- and sixth-year primary school pupils in workshops entitled "Internet: Safe & Fun". Inspired by these interactive lessons, the children are encouraged to think about their own online behavior, through the questions they are asked, and to develop good habits. 

Even though the main objective is to raise children's awareness, it’s also important to help teachers who may feel a bit overwhelmed by Internet education. By orienting them towards appropriate teaching tools, they will be able to tackle the issue of Internet safety in their classrooms. The volunteers will give an initial general lesson on this subject – passwords, online identity and communication, trustworthy sites and cyberbullying – and will leave the teacher a binder of teaching material provided by Child Focus, to deal with particular aspects in more detail. 

For more information, surf to www.clicksafe.be, the Child Focus prevention portal for Internet safety.