The main results of Navigare Sicuri (www.navigaresicuri.org), the Telecom Italia initiative designed to raise awareness among minors and parents about how to browse the Web in safety were illustrated today at the Istituto Comprensivo Teodoro Ciresola in Milan.
The project, developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research and with invaluable input from the Fondazione Movimento Bambino and Save the Children, sets out to help youngsters exploit the extraordinary potential of the new technologies as a learning resource and a vehicle for socialisation, information and growth, while minimising exposure to threats.
The Navigare Sicuri project pursues its goals through a wide variety of tools: a web site, presence on the main social networks, a tour of schools and city centres in 20 cities in 10 regions of , courses for pupils and teachers, digital literacy schemes and awareness campaigns for adults and printed materials produced specifically for the various recipients.
Setting off from Turin on 3 November equipped with 5 multimedia workstations and an interactive whiteboard, the Navigare Sicuri bus has covered over 12,000 km across Italy reaching 40,000 children and teenagers in the schools, and interacting with a total 100,000 people in related activities and city centres visited by the tour.
The feedback gathered from young people in the schools was varied and meaningful: one boy from Trieste admitted that he had been targeted and that he had resolved the problem by talking with older friends. A girl from Cagliari set up a Facebook profile with her mother so they can navigate together. A teenager from L'Aquila went alone to the police to report a case of cyberbullying at school.
The Navigare Sicuri bus stopped at Cuneo, Nuoro, Cagliari, Naples, Salerno, Rome, Latina, L’Aquila, Pescara, Leghorn, Florence, Bologna, Parma, Trieste, Udine, Lecce, Bari, Brescia reaching MIlan in the last few days. During its tour of the country, the children explored the possibilities of the Web with the help of a special testimonial: Geronimo Stilton.
The Navigare Sicuri website (www.navigaresicuri.org) is organized as a blog devoted to online security with a continual flow of information, comments and interaction with experts, plus a Report Abuse function for critical situations. It has achieved peaks of 500,000 unique hits per month.
This year the Navigare Sicuri project also took advantage of social networks with pages on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter dedicated to the various tour activities.
The project gained an online following of over 11,000 fans on Facebook.
During today's meeting the results of the online film competition were also announced.
Three short films were produced by Navigare Sicuri together with the in on the issues of soliciting, identity theft and cyber bullying. These were shown at schools and on the web and the youngsters were asked to pick the best ending from three alternatives.
With 3,760 votes for the film on soliciting “Just for a chat” directed by Costanza Quatrifoglio, the youngsters chose the ending “A date” (http://navigaresicuri.telecomitalia.it/teenagers/video_03.html).
With 2,740 votes for the film on identity theft “The Fortune Teller” directed by Toni D’Angelo the kids picked the ending “Look closely” (http://navigaresicuri.telecomitalia.it/teenagers/video_01.html).
With 4,840 votes for the film on cyberbullying “That's not me” directed by Adriano Giotti and Filippo Losito, the teenagers chose the ending "The empty desk” (http://navigaresicuri.telecomitalia.it/teenagers/video_02.html).
“The diffusion of the Internet and advanced communication technologies in this country is one of Telecom Italia's primary objectives,” said Franco Bernabè, Executive Chairman of Telecom Italia. “However, we must never lose sight of the children and adolescents who are not always in a position to use the Web without putting themselves at risk. Navigare Sicuri is Telecom Italia's contribution to this problem, helping parents produce a new generation of more mature and better informed cybernauts.”
Milan, 23 May 2011
