Young people, 61% victims of bullying or cyberbullying
Rai's commitment for the National Day against Bullying
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February 08, 2021 February 9 is Safer Internet Day 2021, the world day dedicated to the positive use of the Internet. This year the appointment, with the usual motto "Together for a better Internet", is set for tomorrow, with a full program of initiatives put in place by the Ministry of Education, coordinator of "Connected Generations", the Safer Internet Center in Italy, the Italian Center for Safety on the Net. There will be events at local and national level promoted together with the partners of "Generazioni Connesse": the Guarantor Authority for Childhood and Adolescence, the State Police, the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities, the University of Florence and the "Sapienza" University of Rome, Save the Children Italy, Telefono Azzurro, Giffoni and various other partners. All accompanied by the hashtags # SID2021 and #SICItalia. There will be webinars, digital workshops, direct with experts and the official presentation of the new guidelines of the Ministry of Education for the prevention of bullying and cyberbullying.
Hyper-connected young people
In the last year, due to the pandemic, the world of Italian children has focused a lot on smartphones with an over 65%. A greater use of mobile phones leads to greater isolation as 59% are alone in front of the web. 20% of young people would not know how to spend an hour without a smartphone. Three out of four teens constantly check for notifications, although 9 out of 10 prefer to talk to each other live. One in 3 minors give their mobile number to strangers, but they delete the history to avoid parental controls. Almost half of the boys, 48%, do not know how to manage a bullying episode. 62% between 11 and 14 years use Instagram and Tik tok, two out of 10 minors have their own social channel where they post their life. These are some of the data from the survey "Between digital and cyber risk: risks and opportunities of the web" carried out by the Piepoli Institute for the Moige, on a sample of about 1200 minors, on the occasion of Safer Internet Day 2021. The Moige launched its own today the new social campaign 'Young Ambassadors for digital citizenship' against cyberbullying and other dangers of the web. The campaign is promoted in collaboration with the DIS-Security Information Department of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the Postal Police, education, of ANCI - National Association of Italian Municipalities, Digital Republic, Embassy of the United States of America in Italy and with the support of Enel Italia Spa, Trend Micro Italia and the Intesa Sanpaolo charity fund. The
survey shows that fake news among young people: almost 4 out of 5 are informed about events happening in the world through the web, especially on Social Networks. And they do so while declaring ape rtly of having "fallen into the trap" of fake news in 56% of cases. Only 1 in 3 parents give connection time limits, and less than half of parents know what their child is doing online. A figure defined as "very worrying" that 17% of children between 6 and 10 years declare that they have a Tik Tok account, while 14% Youtube and 9% Instagram. 6% of young people claim to have exchanged personal photos with others via social media, and 30% claim to have given their phone number to strangers. Nearly 6 out of 10 children have witnessed episodes of bullying, and almost one in two have witnessed episodes of cyberbullying.
Among the boys who have been bullied, phone jokes, threatening messages, insults dominate but there is no lack of photos or videos. Children, faced with these acts, feel angry (37%), alone (25%), isolated (23%). A state of mind shared by 1 in 2 (48%) with parents, and 1 in 4 with friends, but only 14% with teachers.
hen the Moige "Young Ambassadors for Digital Citizenship" project, now in its fifth edition, in 2021 it will involve: 250 primary and secondary schools of I and II degree about 200 municipalities throughout Italy; 62,500 students involved in awareness raising and training; 1,250 Young Ambassadors for digital citizenship, trained to be a reference point within the school. 1,250 teachers trained through an online platform and meetings at school and 125,000 parents of students informed through dedicated teaching material and webinars. The novelty of this year is that the digital mobile center will also be available to schools, a digital space for students, teachers and parents,
the Postal Police, victims of minors under 9 will double
In 2020, cyberbullying cases treated by the Police have decreased overall with child victims: 412 compared to 460 in 2019. But compared to last year, the cases involving a child under the age of 9 have almost doubled: in 2019 they were 28, while in 2020 they were 52. there is also an increase in minors reported (62 in 2019 against 66 in 2020) for possession and dissemination of child pornography material. The data of the Postal Police were disseminated during the meeting of the Moige "Young Ambassadors for digital citizenship". "Our indices tell us that age - explained Nunzia Ciardi, director of the Postal Police is dramatically lowering, the zero-nine age range is increasing, so it means that more and more small children are using computer devices, without adequate control. The risks of digitization that minors run are not obvious risks because for all of us parents it is clear that a 10/12 year old boy, or worse still 8 years old, should not go out alone at night. It is not so clear to us, for obvious psychological reasons because maybe he is in the room and it is difficult to realize that he runs even more risks than on a street alone ".