THE IMPACT OF FAMILY ATTITUDES ON INTERNET CONNECTIVITY AND SAFE INTERNET USE

"<< Background >>There is internet connection almost everywhere both in public areas and in the homes but are we sure that we all use internet safely. A lot of homes don’t pay attention what internet is used for which can cause problems in terms of safety for the children and their parents as well. That's why we started to feel worried and wanted to take some action to raise the consciousness of the families and change their attitudes to ensure digital safety. In that case parents will be aware that while on internet their children face a lot of risks such as pornography, cyberbullying, talking to strangers, receiving explicit messages and sharing personal data that can be abused. The students will also be informed how to use the internet and be safe at the same time and they will be able to recognize internet abuse. We also wanted to improve teachers the digital skills and competence and to encourage innovative learning and teaching practices. The process of learning will become more interesting and easier and there will be improved learning outcomes. Teachers who are media literate will be able to recognize problems with their students in case they are connected with internet abuse and they can help them guide to overcome those problems.<< Objectives >>This project is for the students, the parents and the teachers. So we have planned workshops, quizzes and presentations that will increase the awareness of the students of their e-security, inform them about cyberbullying and that they shouldn’t share personal data on internet and how long they should stay on internet. This way we will prevent early school dropouts, violent behavior and the lack of ambition to do anything. The students will learn about different cultures, improve their language skills and their computer skills as well. The seminars and the workshops for the parents will help them improve their digital literacy, reduce the risks while online and increase the level of security. They will know to use antiviruses and strong passwords and be aware that children face a lot of risks on internet and they should control them more. The teachers will develop their teaching techniques and methodologies using different internet tools making the process of learning much more interesting. They will share with their colleagues information, ideas and experience how to be safe online and protect their works. They will guide the students and families to see the risks and to improve their empathy skills and social awareness.<< Implementation >>In order to achieve the objectives of the project properly we have planned and implemented different activities. The first activity was to improve the digital skills of the socio – economically and culturally disadvantaged students whose families have inappropriate attitudes towards internet.The other activity was to help the teachers developed their professional, communicative, language and cooperative skills and the social media usage skills. This way they developed the digital skills, inclusiveness, collaboration and teamwork off course paying the biggest attention to the internet safety.Our next activity was to raise the awareness of the families that their children are addicted to internet and that they use internet without thinking about the risks and their safety, to recognize cyberbullying, to be able to lead them how to communicate with their peers better and avoid becoming a bully or a victim. And the final activity was the virtual dissemination using zoom pro for students, teachers and families. The workshops were organized by students and teachers who participated in the previous activities and they transferred their knowledge and skills to a bigger number of other participants.<< Results >>Tangible results: 1.A guide ""Safe on Internet"" for parents. 2.A brochure ""Peer bullying "" . 3.Family education modules 4.e-Twinning project named Safe Internet Use 5.A Facebook page and a website for the wider audience 6.Podcast ""Internet addicts"" with stories about students who are Internet addicts 7.e-booklet for kids created with web 2.0 tools 8.e-story created by the students 9.E-Magazine-three editions.Intangible results: 1.Families with better knowledge about risks on the Internet and improved experience for better protection, building strong passwords, escaping unsafe sites and links, using antiviruses, better leading their children to avoid cyber bulling and decrease the Internet addiction. 2.Students who improved their digital skills, developed their critical thinking and become more aware about safety while connected on the Internet, multi-culturally acknowledged, more confident using the English language, more communicative with their peers, more ambitious and creative. 3.Teachers more competent to do the process of teaching and learning due to learning new methodologies and approaches with the exchange of good practices deriving from the collaboration with the partners."