Background
For children and their families, the digital and physical world are seamlessly connected. Parents and carers have a key role to play in guiding their children through the digital environment and in making sense of both positive and negative experiences. This role should be recognised and supported through a strong regulatory framework, ongoing dialogue and sharing of experiences between parents/carers and children, awareness raising and evidence-based support and prevention measures. Children’s exposure to harmful risks online should be reduced without compromising their opportunities to benefit from the positive impact of digital technologies. Families are diverse and need a wide range of support measures from different policy areas, such as social, family, health, education and digital policies.
Objectives of the working group meeting
The aim of this working group meeting will be to find intersections between family, education and digital policies, to address key digital challenges for families of today, and to build stronger partnerships between family organisations, Safer Internet Centres and other stakeholders. We will discuss key topics include EU legislative developments, digital parent support, sharenting and child rights, parental control tools and preventing child sexual abuse online, artificial intelligence, cyberbullying and more.
Resources
- COFACE Digitalisation principles
- COFACE policy brief on supporting families in the digital era
- Digital well-being in childhood. Research and policy perspectives from Finland – Vaestoliitto
- Overview of the work of KAVI in Finland – National Audiovisual Institute
- OPINION – Sharenting: exercise of parental rights or infringement of privacy?
- Belgian Presidency of the EU: Content with conscience Conclusions | Vlaanderen.be
- France aims to protect kids from parents oversharing pics online – POLITICO
- European Parliamentary question | Sharenting: safeguarding children’s privacy | E-000998/2024 | European Parliament
- BEE SECURE Radar Report in Luxembourg (French and English)
Learning materials
- Better Internet for Kids portal – Learning corner for families (in all EU languages)
- E-learning course on school bullying management – L.I.N.K. course for teachers and educators (in English and Greek)
- Spain: Resources for parents and caregivers Recursos para familias (Incibe)
- Belgium: How to choose a trusted adult? Childfocus MAX (in Dutch and French)
- Finland: Insights from Parents and Caregivers of Child Victims of Online Sexual Abuse Project Children
- Luxembourg: AI and Online Safety BEE Secure (in German and French)
- Finland: Media Education
- Finland: New warning website targeting parents and raising awareness about harmful and dangerous social media trends
- Finland: AI abyss video
- France: Vinz et Lou– A printable escape game for families (in French)
- France: Mon Moment Écran – My Screen Time (In French and English)
- France: Stop La Violence – A serious game that raises awareness about bullying and cyberbullying in a fun, impactful way (In French and English)
