The eighth season of the Cyberscout program started with the training held on 13 and 14 October. 32 new students from grades 5-7 from Hristo Botev School in the village of Gorna Malina became the first trained Cyberscouts for 2022/2023.
The experts of the Safer Internet Centre, in the Applied Research and Communications Foundation, led the training using a number of interactive activities. During the first day of the training the children learnt about the main risks on the Internet: technical (how to protect themselves from viruses, make strong passwords and safety tips on social networks), social environment (how to know if a stranger online is who they say they are and how to react if they suspect they are not, how to react if they are victims or witnesses of online bullying), and as an information environment (how to recognise fake news).
During the second day of the training, the students from Gorna Malina were introduced to and practised the three roles of cyber scouts – how to set an example with responsible and safe online behaviour, how to advise peers in case of a problem online and how to plan and implement their own fun activities to raise awareness among other children. They had the opportunity to work as a team with the other Cyberscouts and to create activities about the main risks online and how to protect themselves and respond in the event of a problem. After their training, certified cyberscouts who wish to do so can form ‘Cyberscout squads’ and take part in ‘Cyberscout missions’ to pass the acquired knowledge about online safety to other children.
A training of 10 teachers from Hristo Botev Secondary School was also held on 13 October. The teachers were introduced to the main risks on the Internet, how to protect children and react in cases of problems. They familiarised themselves with the available data on the topic, as well as with training methodologies for developing digital-media literacy of students and other useful tools, developed by the Safer Internet Centre team, such as: “The Competence Approach in Practice”, “Critical Thinking and Tolerance Handbook”, as well as the “Cyber Jolly” video lessons and the online safety quizzes in the Kahoot app.
The eighth season of the Cyberscout Programme is supported by the Disney Company.
