Zagreb, September 4, 2010 – This sunny September Saturday was spent with children from SOS – Children's Village Lekenik. The aim was to raise children’s awareness about threats on the Internet, the necessity of saving and protecting personal and other data, as well as some basic rules of behavior on the Internet. There were 20 children from fifth to seventh grade of elementary school who participated at this education. They showed us that they are familiar with the Internet, and in particular, Facebook. Almost all children have a Facebook profile, which they primarily use for correspondence with friends, as well as sharing pictures. Through a few fun examples and games, our instructor showed the children possible misuses of personal data which have become widely available on the Internet, and helped them by simply adjusting privacy settings for their own protection.
The workshop also discussed the importance of regular backup of various documents (readings, essays, math homework, vacation pictures) to a USB memory stick, DVD or CD in case the computer breaks down and everything we find important just disappears.
At the end, all children became Facebook friends with our instructor. They sent him grammatically correct and properly spelled messages with a greeting and signature, in capital letters, dots and commas proving that they know how to nicely behave on the Internet.
All in all, it was nice for a few hours to leave the adults’ world of informatics and discover what is troubling and entertaining for Ana - computer expert, Karlo - the legend, Lorena, Dennis, two Katarinas, Martina, Josip, Nevenka, Nikola and other children.
Photos from the summer school of informatics in Lekenik
