Twenty-eight year old Suzanne Gili works at the Office of the Commissioner for Children in Santa Lucija, where she is responsible for the promotion of children’s rights.
Her dissertation at university was on children’s rights, so this is precisely what she set out to do. When she’s not at the office, she helps out at the Ursuline Crèche in Sliema, which takes care of some 50 children.
One of the projects Ms Gili has been promoting is BeSmartOnline!, an initiative aimed at fostering awareness on the protection of children online. Launched in 2010, BeSmartOnline! is led by the Malta Communications Authority and implemented together with the Office of the Commissioner for Children and the Foundation for Social Welfare Services (Aġenzija Appoġġ), with the support of other stakeholders.
The EU’s Safer Internet Programme funds public awareness activities as well as actions to fight illegal and harmful content online and to promote a safer online environment. Malta’s BeSmartOnline! brand is now one of 30 Safer Internet centres across the EU.
Ms Gili is passionate about the subject. “Today, young people and children are among the biggest user groups of online and mobile technologies in Europe. Teenagers are fast gaining the skills they need for the digital era. But, as ever, younger children are now using the internet, a new report has found that many younger children lack basic internet skills.
“A survey in 25 European countries showed that fewer than half of 11-13 year-olds are able to perform relatively simple tasks like bookmarking a webpage or blocking unwanted messages. Almost 15 per cent of internet users who are minors aged between 10 and 17 receive some form of sexual solicitation, and 34 per cent of them encounter sexual material that they have not searched for. That’s why we have to try and make the internet safer for those most at risk, even in Malta.”
Ms Gili says the aims of BeSmartOnline! reflect those of the EU’s Safer Internet Programme. It has three strands: awareness; a helpline; and the 179 hotline.
“Awareness is primarily built through a school campaign. I also run the Youth Panel to find out about the needs of these young people.”
Spending quality time browsing the internet with your children can lead to a number of positive outcomes
The EU’s budget for 2014-2020 offers the unique opportunity to build on the success of the Safer Internet Programme for a new era dedicated to implementing a Better Internet for Children. However, in the initial proposals, child online safety didn’t appear as a priority, putting at risk a great many existing and future initiatives to guarantee a safer and better internet for children.
When funding for the project was threatened last year, the Office of the Commissioner for Children wrote to Malta’s MEPs asking for help. The latter joined their counterparts from other member states to force a number of amendments to ensure such projects remain eligible for funding. The amendments were part of the final funding programme adopted by the European Parliament, and the running of Safer Internet Centres was included among its core services.
The MEPs’ initiative guaranteed future funding for the Maltese project, on which the three primary Maltese partners depend. The amendments re-introduced online child safety as one of the priority areas. The exact text was: “Given its recognised important role in protecting and in empowering children, the functioning of the Safer Internet Programme (the future Better Internet for Kids) – with the awareness nodes, helplines and hotlines – should be ensured after 2014 and beyond.”
Ms Gili has been at the forefront of the protection of Maltese children online through BeSmartOnline!
“Spending quality time browsing the internet with your children can lead to a number of positive outcomes. You can help them become better decision-makers, become more responsible in their online activities and become more independent thinkers while improving their digital skills. It helps bring you closer to them and takes you closer to their world. Keeping children safe online means staying informed to ensure that they are fully aware of the risks, as well as the benefits, of the internet.
“While the internet offers various benefits to your children and opens up a whole new window to endless amounts of information, educational materials, entertainment and communication opportunities – it can also present a number of risks to your child’s safety and emotional well-being. If your children are browsing the internet, you need to be aware of what they are doing.
“Bullying, for instance, takes place online as well. But the problem is the behaviour, not the internet. In a recent survey we discovered that 50 per cent of children and parents in Malta recognise our logo, so while we have made a lot of progress, the next few years of funding are all about ensuring we reach the other 50 per cent,” she concludes.
The European Parliament elections are taking place in Malta on May 24. A number of events are being held to inform about the relevance of these elections for different sectors of the Maltese electorate. For further information visit www.europarlmt.eu or www.facebook.com/ParlamentEwropew.