FITUG e.V.
Förderverein Informationstechnik und Gesellschaft
FITUG e.V.Förderverein Informationstechnik und Gesellschaft |
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http://www.netaware.org/gb/index2.html
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This report outlines the findings of a year long research study commissioned by the European Commission (DGXIII), in preparation for the Safe Use of the Internet Action Plan (See http://www.echo.lu/iap for full details.). The work was carried out by the non-profit organisation Childnet International (see www.childnet-int.org) and Public Relations company Fleishman Hillard (See www.fleishman.com), henceforth called the programme team.
The objective of the work was to assess the key messages which would help children stay safe online, and then how best to communicate these safety messages effectively to parents, teachers and children across Europe.
The research involved: assessing existing Internet safety awareness programmes across Europe (and elsewhere), identifying the key messages and styles of communication, developing pilot deliverables and testing these in 6 European countries through focus groups and an online website questionnaire, and then producing recommendations (this report) which will support wider awareness actions in the full Safe Use of the Internet Action Plan for 2000 onwards.
Due to the limited scope of the project, it must be stressed that this was not a pilot programme for a full scale Internet safety awareness campaign, but rather a preparatory test of particular styles of messages, images and deliverables to see what approaches work best. Furthermore, the programme team was concerned to assess whether a full European-wide awareness campaign would work, and whether there were specific issues/concerns in individual countries and national variances to take into consideration.
The testing of the messages and deliverables had two key components: asking experts, teachers and children through the www.netaware.org website (self-selecting); and getting impressionistic feedback from 12 focus groups in the 6 European countries. In addition the programme team were in constant touch with other organisations and initiatives concerned about safety and self- regulation of the Internet.
These included: The Bertelsmann Experts Group, the Association of Hotlines in Europe (INHOPE), the European Schoolnet, Disney's European Safe Surfing Week, Getnetwise in the USA, the Vienna Conference on Combating Child Pornography on the Internet, European Research into Consumer Affairs (ERICA) as well as individual government's involved in designing awareness initiatives. Consultation with these bodies has been crucial and many of the findings have been endorsed by these other organisations.
The programme team believe that the 12 key findings from this report and the main recommendations (see below), will help shape the future Safe Use of the Internet Action Plan as well as other emerging Internet safety awareness campaigns. Because of the expanding use of the Internet and the demand for good advice from parents and schools in keeping children safe, it is crucial that a wider pan-European Internet safety awareness programme is established quickly.
Key to ensuring the success of this wider campaign is securing cross sector support from partners in different countries and ensuring that a high profile branded campaign has real investment, and "ownership" from industry. With the promise of 50% match funding from the European Commission, there is a unique opportunity to deliver a fuller awareness programme which will have a real impact on ensuring that children are kept safe using the Internet.
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