Speakers
Description
President Von der Leyen has reaffirmed her commitment to protecting the rights of young people in the digital environment in the political guidelines for the European Commission 2024-2029: "We will also firmly combat the growing trend of abusive behavior online with an action plan against cyberbullying".
The fight against cyberbullying is crucial to prevent the normalisation of online violence and increase minors' awareness of the abuses they suffer.
Italian legislation L. 71/2017, strengthened by L. 70/2024 is fully aligned with the context of minors' rights in the digital environment (CM/Rec (2018) and General Comment No. 25 UN). Inspired by the pillars of Protection, Provision, and Participation, the law gives prominence to the school and its role in increasing digital citizenship skills with participatory safety paths for children and adolescents.
Together with the school, a multi-level governance development is also foreseen, encompassing the European, national, regional and municipal plan, as well as the most specific school and community policies. A systemic and structural strategy that offers everyone the tools to address internet risks, and unfolds into specific projects to address the needs of victims, spectators, and perpetrators living in an evolving digital environment.
What governance strategies should a country adopt to make preventive and supportive interventions systemic for all and for each one?
The Symposium presents good practices and corresponding tools to monitor their effectiveness, aimed at increasing minors agency in relation to onlife bullying: participatory and multilevel activities coordinated by different operators to respond to the different youth evolutive needs.
Keywords
Policies and laws, digital awareness, participatory prevention, digital rights, communities-based activities
Additional field for symposia
Author: Elena Ferrara, Former Senator of the Italian Republic and proponent of the Law 71/2017 on (cyber)bullying
Speaker: Elena Ferrara, Former Senator of the Italian Republic and proponent of the Law 71/2017 on (cyber)bullying
Title: A Multilevel Governance for Participatory Prevention
Abstract: Inspired by EU Decision 1351/2008 on the safety of minors online, the “Generazioni Connesse” project is active in Italy, sharing an educational approach with Law 71/2017 on preventing and fighting cyberbullying. The law provides preventive and non-punitive measures aimed at making interventions interdisciplinary, systemic, and structural. These measures are implemented through an integrated Action Plan promoted by a permanent Technical Table that includes all institutions, authorities, and interested parties.
In addition to specific measures for schools (guidelines, e-policies, training for teachers on cyberbullying), the law provides remedial safeguards (request for cancellation of harmful content) and introduces the institution of formal admonition for minors over 14 years old by the security forces.
The Action Plan, partially implemented so far, has developed a tool (THE ELISA Platform) for the training of teachers and school administrators, to monitor the phenomenon of cyberbullying and student agency (how well they know their rights and protection measures).
Another decision-making level is represented by the Italian Regions, which, competent in healthcare and socio-assistance services, have adopted norms and programmes in line with Law 71/2017.
"Opportunities for the realisation of children's rights and their protection in the digital environment require a broad range of legislative, administrative and other measures, including precautionary ones”. (Paragraph 22, General Comment No. 25)
From the international community to the educational community of the smallest local reality, coherence with normative principles and the richness of interventions are fundamental.
Authors: Andrea Gnemmi and Mauro Croce, Psychologists Contorno Viola Association, Verbania, Piedmont Region, Italy
Speakers: Elena Ferrara, Former Senator of the Italian Republic, proponent of the Law 71/2017 on (cyber)bullying. Collaborator with Associazione Contorno Viola and team member of Patente di Smartphone.
Andrea Donati, Digital educator, disseminator and coordinator of community residences of minors. Collaborator with Associazione Contorno Viola and team member of Patente di Smartphone.
Title: The Smartphone License as a new proposal for digital education.
Good practices for the development of alliances in the educating community.
Abstract:The widespread diffusion of smartphones even among younger children has strongly changed socialisation models, giving rise, among other things, to many harmful and inappropriate behaviours.
The project aims to develop digital education, with the aim of preventing and countering the phenomena of cyberbullying and digital stupidity. The course is curated by a multidisciplinary team (law experts, psychologists, pedagogues). The topics addressed range from physiological risks related to excessive use (electromagnetic waves, circadian cycle disorders) to privacy, sexting and cyberbullying.
The main actions envisaged are:
the training of teachers of children in the first year of the second school cycle;
the development of teaching modules in the classrooms managed by trained teachers;
a final exam that certifies the skills gained by the students;
a pact between school, parents and children on the correct use of smartphones;
the delivery of a digital licence, with the presence of local stakeholders, which takes up the driving licence in form and graphics.
This work model born in the city of Verbania, a municipality and capital city of the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy, has spread to various homelands of Italy, involving beyond 35.000 students. The effectiveness of this practice is confirmed by a special comparative study that shows the greatest attention to one's digital actions in the classes that have joined this path.
Author: Rosanna Di Gioia, Scientific officer at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission
Speaker: Rosanna Di Gioia, Scientific Officer at Joint Research Centre of the European Commission
Title: Happy Onlife: EU Commission’s gamified experience to prevent harmful behaviours, to enhance digital competences and dialogue among generations.
Abstract: In response to the growing concern about online safety and digital literacy among children, the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission has developed the Happy Onlife toolkit. Drawing on young citizens' engagement, participatory research approaches, and the European Digital Competence Framework for Citizens (DigComp), Happy Onlife is a child-friendly tool designed to encourage critical thinking and dialogue about online experiences. During dedicated workshops, students, teachers and parents were involved in each step of its development: diagnostics of needs, validation, adoption of resources.
The toolkit comprises a game inspired by the traditional Snakes and Ladders game, adapted to fit the needs of children aged 8-12. It includes challenge cards with questions supporting dialogue about phenomena like cyberbullying, personal data disclosure, and online harmful behaviours. The questions are organised into eight categories:
Stop Bullying!
Let's Chat!
Watch Out!
Play Safely!
Don't Risk!
Social Life!
Privacy First!
Is It Fair?
The Happy Onlife toolkit has the following main goals:
To motivate children to engage in dialogues with adults about their digital experiences
To encourage children (8-12 years) and adults to actively participate in a learning process on online safety
To enhance digital literacy individually and collectively
To prevent harmful online behaviours
The app is available as open-source for customization and has been downloaded over 11,000 times, translated into nine languages (Dutch, French, English, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Greek, and Georgian). Additionally, over 3,000 copies of the physical board game have been distributed to schools.
https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/scientific-tools-and-databases/happy-onlife-play-learn-about-online-safety_en
Authors:
- Guillermina Nora Carnicina, Psychologist and Honorary Judge at the Court of Appeal - Juvenile Section of Bari, Apulia region, Italy
- Cristina Baldi Pedagogist, specialist in autobiographical counselling and Honorary Judge at the Court of Appeal - Juvenile Section of Bari, Apulia region, Italy
Speakers: Guillermina Nora Carnicina, Authority for the rights of minors in Puglia, psychologist, psychotherapist and Honorary Judge at the Court of Appeal - Juvenile Section of Bari, Puglia, Italy.
Cristina Baldi, Authority for the rights of minors in Puglia, pedagogist, specialist in autobiographical consulting and Honorary Judge at the Juvenile Court of Bari, Puglia, Italy.
Title: Micropedagogy of discomfort
Reparative Interventions for Victims of Bullying and Cyberbullying
Autobiographical Prevention Protocol for (Cyber)Bullying Victims & Perpetrators
MERCI (Micro-Pedagogy as Restorative Experience for Inclusive Contexts)
Abstract: Taking care of the stories of adolescents who suffer: whether they are victims or perpetrators in experiences of bullying and cyberbullying.
The hypothesis of this intervention is that autobiographical narrative can structure itself as a symbolic and experiential space-time, where critical experiences can be reworked, as well as strategies to overcome difficulties. Expressing discomfort through words activates a micro-pedagogical approach: initially, it creates relational and attributive enlargements; then, as one reads and reflects on the written words, a surprising transformation occurs. In the mirror of paper, one observes existential miniatures revealing new space-time coordinates for embracing discomfort and restarting one's journey, empowered by the awareness gained. Ultimately, this process enables adolescents to break free from the constraints of prejudice and embark on paths that lead to personal growth and liberation.
The micro-pedagogy of discomfort emerges as an experience of critical self-reflection of one personal situation. The young auto-biographer, thanks to the developed miniature with the written words, gains: a deeper understanding of his/her personal situation in the painful situations experienced; the possible implications and transformations, at cognitive, emotional, social and interpersonal levels; personal re-motivation projects, thanks to which he will choose how to approach the future.
The reparative micro-pedagogical interventions, facilitated through autobiographical methodology and activated in situations of discomfort can be a preventive approach for adolescents. Their own miniatures inspire a continuous search for meaning and purpose and enable them to navigate their lives with a newfound awareness of the written word’s power to build new, vital space-time experiences.
Author: Andrea Donati, Coop manager CTA, responsible for the protection of minors and minor residential educational
Speaker: Andrea Donati, Digital educator, disseminator and coordinator of community residences of minors.
Title: Community-based prevention and education.
Preventing peer-to-peer bullying, activate intervention strategies including collective support.
Abstract: This study analyses a community prevention and education project based on the Community Educating model, which involves young people, schools, sports associations, community centres, libraries, parents, local economic realities and local institutions.
The theoretical framework is based on the experience of Milkman within the risk behaviour prevention project called Youth in Island, which took place from 1997 to 2017 (Ref. Bruce Alexander). The project took place in the Italian town of Canegrate (Milan), with a population of around 18,000 residents, providing a suitable setting for testing and assessing the project's effectiveness.
The objective is to create a user-friendly Handbook that outlines positive online and offline behaviours for young people, developed in collaboration with parents and educators from a range of educational organisations. This guide represents a meeting point for different generational perspectives, which may not always align, and it is informed by a process of mutual listening and dialogue.
The project followed a methodological approach that highlighted good habits in the use of technology in different contexts of life, such as at school, at home, in local places, in libraries, in oratories, in sports and in locker rooms. The specific objective was to prevent peer-to-peer bullying, activate intervention strategies and manage critical situations, including collective support for victims of bullying and cyberbullying.
Through this project, we will present the methodologies employed and the results obtained, including statistical data, to demonstrate the effectiveness of a comprehensive and inclusive community-based approach.
| Please also indicate what kind of contribution it is: | Mixed |
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| Please indicate what type of scientific contribution it is | Not applicable |
