One of UKE (Office of Electronic Communications) priorities is educating young users on responsible use of online services and preventing dangerous situations. The main objective of UKE's educational activities is improving the digital competences. As we are deeply concerned about youth, we conducted a series of Children's Day webinars in 2022, addressed to students of 6-8 grades of primary schools (12-15 years), which covered issues related to hate acts and hate speech, sexting, fake news, disinformation and phishing.
The webinars were a response to the changes observed in cyberspace: the systematic increase in the number of users of services and, at the same time, the growing number of threats such as phishing, hate acts, misinformation, or sexting. The webinars were designed to emphasize the importance of protecting one's privacy, the use of complex passwords to ensure account protection and being careful about data and life sharing on social networks. We urged young people to check privacy policies on social media accounts, manage privacy settings and, not enter sensitive data online, but also to refrain from sharing everything and to think about the sense of reporting online their all life. We strongly warned against sexting and sextortion, i.e., sending one’s intimate photos, videos, and content, which are becoming increasingly popular among teenagers.
Webinars were very successful, they gathered in total 14 302 participants. The initiative has been promoted by the Regional Educational Offices in Poland.

https://cik.uke.gov.pl/en

• Poland

• Youth
• 12-15 years

The project of open webinars for youth will become a permanent part of the educational campaigns undertaken by UKE (Office of Electronic Communications). The first edition, due to the subject, was aimed at students of older elementary school grades, i.e. 6-8 grades (12-15 years old). The starting point for the organization of online classes was the opportunity to talk about topics that are young people’s concerns but are difficult to conduct in a school setting. Problems accompanying online activities are known to every Internet user and UKE’s answer is based on the strong need of educating kids from an early age about the safe use of the internet. Our goal is to raise awareness and remove barriers to the use of technology. In previous years, we have conducted many activities related to Internet safety, so we are aware of the needs and respond in the form of periodic webinars on this topic.
The assumptions and availability of online workshops are also promoted directly by UKE educators, who give lectures and presentations on the advantages of e-services and user protection at major events in Poland. The aforementioned lectures are also broadcast online and available for viewing at any time.

Educational activities available online make it possible to reach a much larger audience than traditional stationary workshops conducted in school facilities. The ability to connect with students in a virtual formula is an additional advantage that shows the opportunities that the use of e-services opens up to everyone, regardless of age or gender. In addition, the conducted meetings help users with low digital competence to find their way in the new realities of today's world, as well as to recognize the pattern of online scams such as phishing or fake news, to know how to react to incidents online and to protect themselves from various attacks. This is an undoubted advantage and enhances the quality of education through the use of interactive elements and promoting the use of digital assets in acquiring and developing future competencies.

The activities undertaken as part of the conducted webinars help to develop the digital competencies of the society. This makes sustainable development goals, such as less inequality or good quality education, possible to achieve using ICT technologies (by gaining access to e-services at the same level regardless of existing digital competencies, age, predispositions or special needs).