During a press conference, held for the third time in the Warsaw University Library, the latest Polish internet safety initiatives were presented. The conference was streamed online and is available in Polish.

Several new internet safety initiatives were launched in Poland on February 6th: A special educational project, Sieciaki-przedszkolaki was designed for kindergarten children who are just starting their adventures in the virtual world. In parallel, a Helpline, www.helpline.org.pl waslaunched, where children, parents and professionals working with children can raise concerns related to situations children experience online.

Moreover, the results of the first Polish research on cyberbullying were presented. The results show that over 52% of young Polish people (12-17) have experienced some kind of bullying via the internet or mobile phones. Safer Internet Day in Poland also marked the beginning of testing filtering software available on the Polish market. The project aims at providing a comprehensive description of software functions and promoting filters as a support tool for parents.

As in previous years, Safer Internet Day celebrations in Poland were intended to encourage local activities on internet safety. Throughout February different organizations from across the country (schools, centers of informal education, libraries, NGOs working with children) were involved in numerous internet-related initiatives: quizzes, competitions, special training for children and parents, happenings, radio spots. A detailed description of all activities reported to the Polish node can be viewed by region at the following URL: http://www.dbi.pl/inicjatywy_2007.php. This year’s initiatives exceeded last year’s in number, reaching over 444 entries.

On the occasion of SID the Polish node prepared special competitions for schools. The winners will get valuable prizes, including one special reward – a meeting with the famous music group Blue Café. For individual users, a special SID competition was launched within the Sieciaki.pl project.

February is a particularly rich month in terms of internet safety initiatives in Poland. However, the Polish node hopes that the topic of internet safety will enter all Polish schools and will continue attracting more attention among teachers throughout the whole school year.

Agnieszka Wrzesień, Saferinternet Poland