Media-safe at school!New klicksafe material package for the start of school 2024

Ludwigshafen, 22.08.2024 - Welcome to the new school year! By the time they enter Year 5 at the latest, most children have their own smartphone in their hands. Unlimited distraction through gaming apps, messengers and social media, but also disturbing content and cyberbullying - all of this is part of everyday life in schools today.

This makes it all the more important to help children use media confidentlyand strengthen their media skills. However, according to the latest KIM Study 2022, every second child between the ages of six and 13 surfs alone, while two thirds of parents do not use any parental control filters or security settings.

"It goes without saying that teachers and parents talk to children starting school about road safety and practise how to get to school. At the same time, however, we often leave children alone and unprotected online," explains Deborah Woldemichael, head of the EU initiative klicksafe. Via messenger, online games or social media - children and young people can be confronted with sexualized or violence-glorifying content everywhere. Many popular games or social media services also use manipulative designs that encourage excessive use or pressure to buy and exploit the inexperience of young people. "To ensure that children are safe online, they need safe surfing areas, clear media usage rules, effective protective measures on digital devices and supervision when surfing and playing online," says Woldemichael.

This year, klicksafe is therefore once again providing parents and educational professionals with new guide formats and handouts to strengthen the media skills of all those involved.

klicksafe is publishing these new materials for primary and secondary schools for the new school year:

Elementary school 

• The new leaflet "Media-safe at school" offers parents of primary school children practical tips and advice on how they can make their children's media consumption age-appropriate and safe. Frequently asked questions from parents are answered concisely. The leaflet is also available in Turkish, Arabic and Russian.

Secondary schools

• The new handout "Cybergrooming -sexual violence on the internet" contains working materials for schools and youth work that provide comprehensive information on the topic. The aim is to enable young people to recognize cybergrooming, formulate their own boundaries and defend themselves against digital sexual violence. 
•  The new educational card game"Are you safe?"was developed byin collaboration with the Rhineland-Palatinate consumer advice center. It contains questions on the topics of online shopping, cybercrime, apps, games and social media.

In addition, the klicksafe compilation "Medienkompetent in allen Klassenstufen" can be downloaded here for all school types and grades on various topics.All materials are available at https://www.klicksafe.de/materialien