Agenda

Both INTERPOL and Europol (2023) have reported substantial increases in online child exploitation and coercion including online grooming during the COVID pandemic. Early research exploring sex offender behaviour online has suggested for some time now that the grooming process can be very short and can be prolonged where a longer term relationship is established to facilitate the grooming behaviour (Webster, Davidson & Bifulco, 2014).. Offender behaviour has however changed considerably with large numbers of offenders using the dark web to network and share indecent child images, increasing use of AI amongst offenders also presents challenges to law enforcement. This talk will consider the implications of recent trends for stakeholders working in the child safeguarding area.

Age is not a perfect guide to a child's likely capacities across a range of headings but it is the best proxy we have when thinking about the online environment and children's engagement with it. There are three types of content on the internet. Content which poses zero threat to children of any age. Content which may not be appropriate for children of a certain age. Content which is likely to be harmful to all children and in the offline world may also be subject to legal limitations which are linked to age. Likewise there are certain types of environments which ought not to be accessible to children and certain products or services which children should not be able to access either online or off. In all of those instances where age is judged to be important or is a legal requirement, age verification has an important protective role to play.

The presentation deals with several important results (mainly from the latest ySkills research) showing contextual factors influencing people’s engagement in different types of electronic aggression (as an aggressor, but also as a person actively searching for the content of this nature, or as a person strengthening the publication of this kind of content). The results will be discussed in the context of solutions and prevention of electronic violence perpetration.

Preparing young people to engage with the digital environment is one of the most challenging tasks that today’s patents face. These actions may only be effective through cooperation between school and parents. At home, students need to see the reflection of the rules they learn at school. Parents, on the other hand, have a chance to notice things that cannot be noticed at school, and support the teachers in this way. How should we talk to parents to convince them to implement digital hygiene in their family life and to cooperate with school? These issues will be discussed by Magdalena Bigaj, the author of a book “Wychowanie przy ekranie” [Upbringing in front of the screen] and the founder of the Digital Citizenship Institute Foundation.

People with autism spectrum disorder are particularly susceptible to online threats. Special attention should be paid to key areas of potential risk. Together with self-advocates with autism spectrum disorder from the Conscious Youth Club at the Autism Team Foundation we have developed a map of threats and some verified ways of staying safe online. The key issues: cyberbullying, social media traps, online stalking, complexities of manipulative content, internet addiction, sensory overload, communication in social media and online. Despite numerous threats, online world may play an important and positive role in the life of young people with autism spectrum disorder. It is often a space for building and maintaining social relations, as well as for learning new things or developing one’s passion.

14-year-old Leonie is a successful teen influencer who lives with her parents on the outskirts of Berlin. Over a million followers are at her feet and companies shower her with products. When Leonie's parents recognize the enormous economic potential of their daughter’s online activities, they quickly take over her management. They want her to have a better life than they had – in East Berlin, before the Wall fell. But Leo’s life dictated by brands and the pressure to produce content slowly turns into a prison.

As youth are often the main target group of internet safety campaigns, let's switch the perspective for a while! This presentation will go over how young people percieve cybersafety-related campaigns and what their expectations are when participating in activities conducted by Safer Internet Centers. It will offer creative inspiration and suggest new communication strategies to reach young people effectively. Brought to you firsthand – from a young person who takes part in prevention events.

Behind every child in the classroom, there is a parent. The parent´s participation in the school community is crucial for the child´s prosperity. But are the school doors open? What is the parent´s perspective regarding their child’s school? Are there really simple five ways that can increase parental participation in the school community? I will share the Icelandic approach and my personal experience regarding working with parents and teachers in the school community.

The presentation will discuss the conclusions from the first edition of the report entitled “Maturing to rights”, published this year, and prepared by the Orange Foundation Poland in cooperation with a wide range of experts. The monitoring process was based on an expert panel and interviews with young people. The novel aspect of the report consists in proposing a new architecture of children’s rights in an information based and digital environment. It is inspired by targeted recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. The presentation will also include the results of the Child Subjectivity and Children’s Rights Index developed for the purpose of the monitoring process.

Internet is a place, where young people feel they can do everything – from buying strong psychotropic medications, through relaxing and combating boredom by watching TikTok videos for hours, watching pictures and stories on Instagram, to voicing their opinions on people they dislike without any consequences. Functioning in a digital world engages a lot of emotions and, despite knowing its mechanisms, young people are not able to make a rational assessment of the things that are happening therein. As qualitative researchers, we conduct interviews with young people, who, often to our surprise, are unusually honest and open in these conversations. They have a lot of thoughts and reflections, many of which concern their presence in the online world, and they feel a strong need of sharing them. For the last three years, we have conducted research projects with the participation of young people. In our presentation we want to represent their voice and provide some details about their experience related to their functioning in a digital world. We want to share their insights on their internet use, on their fears related to this space and on the things that attract them the most.

Over the recent years we have observed a growing number of online grooming cases, that is the situations, in which an adult establishes an online contact with a child with the purpose of sexual abuse – meeting live, presenting pornographic materials, or getting to send intimate photos and videos. The perpetrator-child dynamics differ – its time and the type of contact depends on the personality and needs of both, a perpetrator and a victim. This is crucial for the development of effective preventive actions. What kind of education do the youth need to be able to recognise the threats related to online grooming? What kind of behavioural patterns were found in people seeking sexual interaction with minors, and what kind of minors are susceptible to these behaviours? The presentation will discuss the specificity of the problem and possible preventive approaches based, among others, on analysis of dialogues between perpetrators and victims conducted by Dyżurnet.pl and on experience from working with children and youth in the “Child on the Web” counselling centre.

The presentation will cover the topic of loot boxes, that is the boxes containing items. What are they? Where do they appear? How can children access them? Can children spend money on random boxes that may cost from a few to a few tens of zlotys? How do Poland and other countries treat this case? These are the issues that will be discussed in the presentation.

School is the most common place, where peer violence occurs and persists. At the same time, school not only provides a special opportunity for prevention of such violence, but it is also a source of possibilities to address bullying in an effective way. The presentation will provide some solutions to use these possibilities efficiently and to address the issue of peer violence at school in a systemic manner.

The presentation will cover links between the school atmosphere as it is perceived by students and the peer violence intensity. Based on the presented links, the directions for actions aiming at school atmosphere improvement will be proposed.

Restorative justice practice helps creating school culture based on mutual respect, clear principles applicable to the whole community, as well as learning more effective communication and peaceful conflict resolution methods. In restorative school, we develop skills of cooperation, empathy, responsibility, learning about oneself and about each other, and of problem solving. This does not mean that the school environment will be free from violent behaviours. What can we do when a student hurts another student? How should we react to peer violence and keep the restorative school culture? During the presentation I will discuss the Social Disciplinary Window concept described by Paul McCold and Ted Wachtel (2003), and I will present its usefulness in everyday school reality. Taking cyberbullying as an example, I will propose a way of reacting to it and provide some internal school procedures based on restorative justice practice.

[Webinar conducted in Polish] The aim of this presentation is to explain the idea of disinformation and to present different related methods and schemes of operation. We will use particular examples taken from social media to discuss the influence of this phenomenon on youth and we will present the basic rules of verifying and recognising disinformation.

[Webinar conducted in Polish] Cyberlessons 3.0 is a project aimed at teachers who wish to present to children and youth some rules and tips on safe internet use during their classes. Problem based learning method is an effective educational tool that makes it possible for students to actively participate in the learning process by solving real-life problems. This kind of teaching aims at developing such skills as critical thinking, logical reasoning, analysing, making conclusions, cooperation, and independence. During the webinar, selected scenarios for different age groups will be discussed.

[Webinar conducted in Polish] For many years now, the Sieciaki.pl project has been supporting teachers in educating the youngest on safe internet use. Lessons provided under this project take place in schools and day care centres, and they expand children’s knowledge on the digital world and shape their positive habits. During the webinar, we will discuss the key threats, i.e., harmful content, excessive internet use, chasing online popularity, or hate. The latest educational proposals will also be presented, including lesson scenarios devoted to the abovementioned issues.

[Webinar conducted in Polish] The advice centre “Child on the Web” provides aid to children who have experienced online threats including cyberbullying, who have encountered harmful online content including pornography, who have experienced online grooming and sexual abuse and other difficult situations related to the screen devices use. We help children through various kinds of psychological and psychotherapeutic treatment. We also support parents in shaping proper habits of using new technologies. What kind of problems related to the threat to children and youth online safety are currently most often reported to the advice centre “Child on the Web”? What sort of challenges do they bring? What should we pay attention to while supporting young people and their families in such situations? During the webinar I will try to answer the abovementioned questions, sharing my experience from the work with children and parents in the advice centre.

[Webinar conducted in Polish] Does the future competence equal skills of screen devices and internet use? Does it also consist in critical thinking and group cooperation? And how can we pass this knowledge to students in an attractive manner? MegaMission uses play and cooperation to teach children critical thinking and deliberation, it develops social competence including cooperative abilities, teaches empathy and trust, cultural discussion and respect to one’s interlocutors, both offline and online, responsible approach to technology and internet: verifying information, distinguishing between facts and opinions, forming healthy habits in using digital devices. It also includes a number of interesting activities adjusted to children’s age, while making use of screens to the minimum. MegaMission is a Polish programme for primary schools – for children aged 6–10 and their teachers – carried out by the Orange Foundation. It contains short animations and ready-to-use lesson scenarios developed in cooperation with experts, available on the online platform for teachers in the knowledge base section.

[Webinar conducted in Polish] 1. Autistic brain – a few important facts; 2. Who do neurodivergent youths listen nowadays?; 3. What do children and youths seek on the Internet and what do they find – spectrum of possibilities or spectrum of threats?; 4. Psycho-cyber education – who needs it the most?

[Webinar conducted in Polish] Artificial intelligence is just bringing about a complete revolution in education. Smart tools for text and image analysis, as well as rapid development of internet applications are changing the way of learning, doing homework and teaching. Chatbot GPT has passed the Polish A-Level Exam, and the US Bar Exam – with distinction. During the workshops we will talk with experts from the National Research Institute NASK: 1. What is artificial intelligence – based on examples; 2. What chances and threats come from its rapid development for students, teachers, and whole societies?; 3. How do school youth use these tools and for what purpose?; 4. How can teachers prepare themselves and their student to these changes?; 5. How can we change the way of teaching in order to both, make a good use of new possibilities and minimise the risk?