The digital environment creates new avenues for children and Youth to access information, enhance education, socialize, and play. For children to make the most of these prospects feeling secure and self-assured, the ITU first developed the Child Online Protection (COP) Guidelines in 2009. Such Guidelines, designed for parents and educators, policymakers, industry, and children have been updated in 2020 to reflect the latest trends and technological development.
To complement this effort and build the capacities of stakeholders to localize the knowledge, ITU developed a series of training, including the Training of Trainer (ToT) Module for Educators. The ToT equips participants with the required knowledge to plan and deliver training sessions on COP for staff of the education system. Such ToT was piloted for the first time in Europe in Malta.
In this regard, the ITU office for Europe has been working in close cooperation with the Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society (MFWS), spearheaded by H.E Marie-Louise Coleiro-Preca, Former President of Malta (2014-2019). The foundation seeks to nurture an inclusive, fair, and sustainable society where all people may grow and engage in productive and meaningful relationships. Children's rights and meaningful children's participation in society are at the very core of the Foundation's work. Recognizing the need to address the threats that the online environment can cause to children's wellness and the potential that the digital space holds for the youth to engage meaningfully and help to develop fully, the MFWS saw the necessity to reinforce child online safety in the country. For this reason, the foundation called upon the ITU to deliver a ToT Module to social workers, counselors, and psychotherapists from two colleges[1] in the country.
“Training is of the essence […] and this is why we reached out to the UN ITU to
communicate the right messages and the right points to the children in schools
to empower them so that they can be resilient when they are facing online
challenges.", said H.E Coleiro-Preca.
Child online protection – A timely issue
Social workers within the education system are at the frontline of the issue and hold a central role in addressing it. They are the bridge between educators, children, and their families. Child online abuse and cyberbullying are concerns on the rise in Malta. “In my context as a psychology practitioner, [child online protection] is something that I constantly need to keep in mind when I am interacting with parents, teachers, and students.", explain a participant.
Social workers that took part in the ToT are confronted in their daily work with a wide range of online issues affecting students, which oftentimes had a rippled effect on offline life.
Online child sexual exploitation and abuse materials (CSAM), meaning materials that depict acts of sexual abuse and/or focus on the genitalia of a child – many produced by parents and parental figures, are the main recurring issue that participants face in their work. In this sensitive context that can be difficult to navigate, being trained on how to address child online protection-related issues was considered timely and necessary. “This type of training is extremely beneficial given the current context we are in. Children are basically born with a phone in their hands, child online protection is not something that should be taken lightly".
A multistakeholder approach is necessary to addressing child online safety concerns, and the ToT helped understand how stakeholders can gather “different professionals to create a cohesive approach to a very complex and difficult subject", highlighted a participant. Not only the ToT helps to create this ecosystem, but it also helped trainees be “more aware of the resources out there and the other professionals that can help".
This first piece of training served as a portrayal of the necessity to build capacities in the field of child online safety. “It is important that this training is being provided to all the stakeholders who are involved in the child's life", expressed a participant. “If we don't educate our educators on how to approach this subject, it will always slip by and no one is going to do anything about it", said another.
Acknowledging this, the Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of the Society has requested ITU to extend the delivery of the ToT module to all state schools nationally. The continuity of the training will be held in 2023, within the framework of the Foundation's POP (Promoting Online Protection)- Up project.
