Highly accountable role is played by adolescents participating in the Youth Panel each year Safer Internet Hellas, the Greek Safer Internet Center, which belongs to the Pan-European Network Safer Internet, με 31 χώρες-μέλη και υπάγεται στην Ευρωπαϊκή Επιτροπή. Δρώντας ως νεαροί πρεσβευτές, αφού εκπαιδευθούν οι ίδιοι, διοχετεύουν τη γνώση γύρω από την ασφαλή πλοήγηση, τις γραμμές υποστήριξης αλλά και καταγγελιών περιστατικών στα υπόλοιπα παιδιά, συμμετέχουν σε συνέδρια εντός και εκτός Ελλάδας όπου αλληλεπιδρούν με συνομήλικούς τους, ενώ στο πλαίσιο της δράσης του Safer Internet, η γνώμη τους λαμβάνεται σοβαρά υπόψη κατά τον σχεδιασμό κάθε εκστρατείας informations.
Quarterly meeting
17-year-old Marina Karablia, a third-year high school student, together with her four years younger sister, Vanessa, and Nikolas Dertsos, also a high school senior, talk about their experience: "My involvement in the Safer Internet Youth Panel started in gymnasium" says Marina, who has also made relevant recommendations to the Youth Parliament as well as to the recent conference in Zappeion, in the context of the Greek presidency, on the topic of "Safety of minors in the digital age". "The youth panel meets quarterly. We are preparing for World Safer Internet Day in February, watching videos, learning about Europe-wide Safer Internet conferencesnetwork, we discuss reporting incidents. After gathering information, we present it to our school. In other words, we become communicants of ideas. Many children don't know the real dangers of the internet, so our work is important."
What has she taught herself? "Do not publish photos or other personal information. Having been convinced of the dangers of the Internet, I was scared, but I did not stop using it. I make sure not to be exposed or accept anyone as a friend on facebook. Especially today, even small children surf through their mobile internet, instead of being forbidden to access them, they have to learn to navigate safely. "
The baton on the Youth Panel has now been passed to her sister. "Vanessa was 12 years old last year. A little girl who couldn't reach the microphone. We heard her talk about the Internet, she got us hooked. We chose to send her to the Safer Internet European conference in Brussels in October," said Ms. Veronika Samara, coordinator of the Hellenic Safer Internet Center, referring to the selection criteria for the young ambassadors: "They must be good schoolchildren, with a good knowledge of English, responsibility, communication skills and an appetite for the public". Vanessa, only impressed, declares from the trip: "The conference lasted five days. The topic was "A better internet with you (th)". We were children from 31 countries! People from all over Europe had come, we exchanged opinions. It was a great experience. I felt very proud." As for children from other European countries “they are more informed about the dangers of the Internet – the state supports Safer Internet a lot. On the contrary, the southern countries - Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece - have not taken the Internet and its dangers so seriously."
For Nikolas, a student of the 5th Lyceum of Larissa, his initial motives for engaging in Safer Internet were not so good: "Then I got stuck." Now "I can more easily approach my peers, inform them, while participating in activities for schools. This year, I represented my school at the Safe Internet Day conference. Later, I was invited - like Marina - to speak at the Zappeion conference.
The advantage of children - ambassadors of Internet security, is that they themselves act as multipliers of knowledge. First we collect it and then share it. " What would you like to suggest to the state? "Keeping the Internet safe as a lesson and systematically taught its creative use". How does the Internet of the future visualize Marina? "Ideal Internet does not exist, only ideal users. Realizing that they will not be affected by what they are bombarding and will respect the rights of other users. "
Their action is multi-level
Ms. Veronika Samara, coordinator of the Hellenic Center for Safe Internet and head of the Information and Vigilance Action Saferinternet.gr, explains the action of www.saferinternet.gr and the Youth Panel: "All National Safer Internet Centers are implemented with a new panel information and awareness. Next year, in fact, we join the new framework, the Connecting Europe Facility, undertaking the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) project. This year, we have 12 children - ambassadors. They approach us either through schools or individually (www.saferinternet.gr). Their action is multidimensional: they become mentors for the other children, they evaluate the SI material - questionnaires, leaflets, spots - and we take their opinion seriously. They learn to use the Internet as a creative tool. They travel to Brussels. They undertook and performed flawlessly this year the organization of the conference for Safe Internet Day. They are participating in the online consultation, Youth Manifesto, with the aim of the European Parliament voting on the best national proposals for adolescents on the future of the Internet. The role of children is extremely important. As for the benefits? They learn to express their opinion, to get involved in debates, to face an audience ".
