The “Navigare Sicuri” bus will arrive in Catanzaro tomorrow. It is part of the Telecom Italia initiative that seeks to raise awareness amongst children, students, teachers and parents towards a careful and mindful use of the internet.
On the mornings of the 22nd and 23rd March the “Navigare Sicuri” specialized team will give lessons in the Casalinuovo Comprehensive Institute (situated in Via Stretto Antico, 29) and interact with both educators and pupils. In the afternoons the bus will head towards Piazza della Prefettura where interactive activities will take place and specifically developed educational equipment for young people and adults will be handed out. At 6pm on Thursday 22nd March, Mario Caligiuri, (the region's councillor for culture).
In the bus, parents, students and teachers will be able to explore and come to terms with the world of Internet in a fun and innovative way. They will be assisted by a team of experts and will be able to count on technological equipment such as : 5 multimedia stations and an Olivetti interactive whiteboard.
All the details of the “Navigare Sicuri” initiative and its main activities can be found in its dedicated pages on social network sites such as facebook, twitter and youtube.
The “Navigare Sicuri” (www.navigaresicuri.org) bus covered 12,000 km during the 2010-2011 edition of the tour and was a big success throughout Italy. Over 100,000 people took part in the initiative both in schools and in the squares of 20 different cities located in 10 Italian regions. After having visited the cities of Aosta, Genova, La Spezia, Palermo, Reggio Calabria and Catanzaro the “navigare sicuri” bus will stop in the 12 cities of the remaining regions : Basilicata, Molise, Umbria, Marche, Veneto and Trentino Alto Adige, hence completing its tour around Italy.
Children from the ages of 5 to 10 will learn how to safely browse the internet with the collaboration of Geronimo Stilton, they will be able to play with the characters living in Topazia while learning useful techniques to safely surf the web : protecting personal data, openly discussing their experiences on the Internet with their parents and making them aware of any risky situations they may encounter.
The materials prepared for 10 to 14 year-olds have been developed expecting them to already have a good knowledge of the Internet and a certain level of independence from their parents.
Nick the mascot will encourage them to discuss important topics which they are most likely to experience at this age, such as cyberbullying, importuning and identity theft. Furthermore three short films will illustrate some dangerous situations a youth may encounter while using the Internet. Each mini-film has an open ending, in this way youths are called to choose and predict the correct one.
A section for parents and teachers is also available providing updates and information on the relationship between young people and the Internet. Here experts will answer any concerns parents and teachers may have by means of an online support facility. The contents of this section have been developed by Telecom Italia with the collaboration of the “Fondazione Movimento Bambino” (Child movement foundation) and “Save the Children” organizations.
The initiative has been developed with the collaboration of the Ministry of Education, University and Research and also relies upon the competences of well established organizations such as “Save the Children” and “Fondazione Movimento Bambino”. Its main objective is to promote the potential of new digital technologies as a resource for learning, socializing and growing up while at the same time avoiding its hidden dangers.
After Catanzaro the “Navigare Sicuri” bus will stop in Potenza from the 26th until the 28th March.
Catanzaro, 21st March 2012
