Dutch Youth Council: DigiRaad In April 2006, with the official launch of the Digibewust programme, Digibewust called for teenagers to apply for a new Dutch youth council: the DigiRaad. This council is constituted of twelve members. These young girls and boys, with the greatest of enthusiasm, are expert advisers to the Dutch government and Digibewust. Their specialism: how to make the internet a safer place for children and young people. As they say: “We know what children do and experience on the internet, which information they need and how they want to receive that information.”

The DigiRaad has a direct line to state secretary Frank Heemskerk of the Dutch ministry of Economic Affairs and has already communicated several ideas to him. In February 2008 it asked for greater integration of ICT in the school programme. The council underlined the importance for children to learn how they can be both a media producer and consumer in a safe and responsible way. New media use must form a part of the school curriculum: how to put a short movie on You Tube, how to create your own website, what privacy online means, and how to cope with copyright.  At the same time, the DigiRaad stresses that the safe use of digital applications must not be forgotten. Children should acquire digital skills and be aware of their own responsibilities and safety. It argues for these reasons that it also crucial that teachers should receive specific training to guide the children.

The DigiRaad has been running for almost two years now and the stakeholders of the online safety network in the Netherlands are well acquainted with the group. Members also give presentations and become involved in debates about online safety at different events and meetings in the Netherlands; journalists follow their activities with interest. The DigiRaad is also involved in all the projects that Digibewust undertakes with children in mind. It provides criticism of Digibewust materials to ensure their effectiveness with young people.

Of course its members have their own social and educational agenda. Digibewust believes that being active for the DigiRaad should not interfere with schoolwork or family time. They therefore come together as a full council ‘only’ 4 to 5 times per year; still enough for Digibewust to receive valuable feedback and to support and lead them in their activities. These meetings enable contact with other organisations in the Netherlands which are interested in and interesting for them, like MTV, the Dutch Hotline (to whom the DigiRaad gave advice during the development of a website for children), Kennisnet and others.

For Digibewust the youth council is hugely beneficial. It gives us advice, tells us what children are interested in, how we can optimise educational material. At the same time, it generates a lot of free publicity for online safety in the Netherlands.