Safer Internet Day is celebrated in more than 180 countries around the world, always on the second Tuesday of February. This year, this day fell on February 7 and was celebrated for the 20th time. The coordinator of this day for the Czech Republic is the National Safer Internet Center, managed by the CZ.NIC Association.
It is a pleasure to see how this day is becoming more and more important in our country and is being commemorated by more and more companies or individuals. The event is not only intended for organizations that deal with security, prevention, education and intervention on the Internet, but the participation of the general public, including children, students and parents, or state and educational institutions, is welcome.
For those who wanted to get involved and were looking for inspiration, in cooperation with JSNS, the Police of the Czech Republic and the E-safety project, we prepared an online guide in which we published dozens of tips and advice for different age groups. The manual can be used throughout the year, as it contains a wide range of games, tutorials, courses and inspiration. We were very pleased that the handbook reached dozens of schools that found the activities an interesting addition to their lessons.
Pupils from Liběšice tried out several activities from the handbook
Pupils from Mládí Orlová Primary school had a great idea. Class 9.B set the task to support this year’s Safer Internet Day with their presentation. They focused on basic topics about security, but also on tricky situations from life on the Internet and prepared them for younger classmates as well. They chose the format that suited them. They gave their classmates a business card with a QR code, which they then simply scanned and flicked through the prepared presentation. They could stop by the video, compete or learn something new. Pupils from Dyjákovice Primary School took a creative approach to the day.
Primary school Dyjákovice and Primary school Mládí Orlová
For Safer Internet Day, we also prepared a press conference and subsequent expert panels in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior. One of the topics was the growing cybercrime. Compared to 2021 alone, the number of reported crimes has increased from 9,518 to 18,554, i.e. by almost 100 percent. Media literacy, education and prevention were among the other topics we addressed in the expert panels. The importance of this day was underlined by the participation of Deputy Prime Minister for Digitization and Minister for Regional Development Ivan Bartoš, the Director of NÚKIB Lukáš Kintra, the First Deputy Minister of the Interior Lukáš Kolářík and Brigadier General Tomáš Kubík representing the Police of the Czech Republic. The activities of our Safer Internet Center were then presented by the Executive Director of the CZ.NIC Association Ondřej Filip.
On this day, our partner in the project, People in Need, published a survey mapping the state of media literacy in schools. Social media was also lively. We saw hundreds of posts under the official hashtags of #SID2023 and #SaferInternetDay.
What to say in conclusion? There were really a lot of you. Thank you for helping us make the Internet safer. I believe that you will join us in the next edition, which will take place on February 6, 2024.