It’s more than a game

“It’s more than a game, it’s your life”: that’s the slogan chosen this year for Safer Internet Day, celebrated throughout Europe on 8 February to promote the safe use of the internet especially among children and young people. The European Commission itself, through its Safer Internet Programme, has funded EU Kids Online: a research project that has involved 25,000 children and young people, together with their parents, in 25 European countries. According to the data gathered, “a quarter of Italian youngsters aged between 11 and 16 say it’s easier for them to be themselves on the internet than in person”. This trend – according to researchers – could pose a risk for the some 5% who succeed in being themselves almost exclusively online. To analyze these data, and try to understand what risks are posed on the internet today, Michele Luppi, on behalf of SIR Europe, interviewed Giovanna Mascheroni, member of OSSCOM (Observatory on Communication of the Catholic University) and of the EU Kids Online project.What’s the aim of Safer Internet Day?“With the slogan: it’s more than a game, it’s your life, the EU wished to draw the attention not only of young people, but especially of parents, teachers and educators to the nature of the relation between virtual world and real world. These worlds are not opposed to each other: they are always complementary. Today, online communication and, in particular, social network sites, have become an integral part of the life of teenagers. Research has shown that for 20% of those interviewed it’s easier to be themselves on the internet than in real life. It’s important to make them understand that the world wide web represents a great opportunity, but also poses risks. This is a message that especially concerns those 5% of youngsters who claim they are able to be themselves almost exclusively on line”.What other data emerged from the research?“This research is very complex given the huge quantity of data involved [25,000 interviews with young people and their parents]. That’s why we have decided to proceed with a series of reports, each tackling different aspects. In this case we dealt with the relation between digital world and real world. In general we can say that, especially in the case of Italian youngsters, the majority (82%) tend to have relations online with persons they already know. Only 10% communicate with persons unknown to them, who, in almost all cases, are those of their own age group”.Given these positive data, is it not alarmist to concentrate on the risks?“Not at all. If it’s true that the data are positive, there’s always that 5% of more vulnerable children and young people who need to be put on their guard against the risks that they may run on the internet and that are very real”.What are the most common risks?“I would say they are mainly of two types. First, there’s the risk of bullying of which 2% of Italian youngsters are victims. It’s a form of psychological violence in the form of verbal effrontery, indecency, violation of privacy, diffusion of false information or stolen images. Second, there’s the risk of entering into contact with, or being groomed by strangers, among whom there may be those with suspicious or evil intentions”.The aims of Safer Internet Day include that of stimulating the promotion of legislative measures in support of online safety. At what point are we in the EU and in Italy?“As far as the EU is concerned, the choice has been made to leave to member countries the option of self-regulation. However, the EU has drawn up, on the occasion of Safer Internet Day last year, a series of guidelines. Some of these have been accepted and signed up to by the main global internet providers. For example, it has been established that all the profiles of children published on the internet must remain private. This is one way of making the social networks safer. This rule, however, is not always followed”. What’s the sensitivity in Italy to these issues?“We might say Italy is lagging behind a little bit but there are promising signs. On February 8th a campaign was launched in cooperation between Save the Children, Adiconsum and lots more public and private partners to promote the Safer Internet Day through the dedicated portal www.sicurinrete.it which provides information for children as well as adults”.