Involving parents – a module for parents’ evenings in Germany Parents are not always as at home on the internet as they need to be when supporting their children using it. klicksafe is therefore developing a module for parents’ evenings.

Home is usually the first place where children are confronted with media – whether television, radio or the internet. Therefore, parents are the first contact persons for children when faced with its use. That also gives them the responsibility for the media education of their children.

In contrast to television, which most parents of today have grown up with themselves, many parents do not have that much experience as far as use of the internet is concerned and feel helpless when being confronted with it. Often, parents do not feel so much at home on the internet and therefore are quite bewildered.

Due to this uncertainty, informing and training parents is a crucial point in raising the awareness of internet users. A first step is information about possibilities offered and challenges presented by the internet, basics of internet use. Also, information about what kids actually do online, what sites they go to, what they like and are fascinated by on the internet is very important. Parents must also be informed about dangers and risks that children can encounter online.

For all these reasons, klicksafe is at the moment developing a programme for evening meetings with parents, that will be distributed all over Germany. Basically, klicksafe will offer two pillars for work with parents: a concept for the parents’ evenings, containing worksheets, information leaflets and link lists for parents, and training for cascaders, who will then distribute the concept.

In this project, klicksafe is closely working together with partners that have experience in the field of work with parents and also have the structures for distributing the programme. Very helpful is the experience that klicksafe team members have gained at many parents’ evenings that have been held in the past years.

Stephanie Kutscher, klicksafe