“You know, I’ve refused to go to 3 events for today. I could have gone to any of them, but I’ve chosen to come to the INTERSECTION. I’ve been missing you so much!”
Well, how could we keep from melting with joy and moving mountains whenever necessary after hearing such revelations from the teachers from #OnlineSafeZone?
This was how the morning of November 30 was beginning: after a break of several long months since our last offline, we met with the teachers from all over the country to discuss children’s behavior in the online environment.
The title of the second National Conference for Teachers and Instructors in the INTERSECTION Community was The Risk of Accessing Sexual Content by Younger Schoolchildren. The topic was a delicate one, but the teachers found it all the more interesting and useful, since, according to them, it was not easy to find any useful and qualitative information on the way such situations could be managed by teachers. The tools tested and adapted for working with kids in class were even fewer.
Probably for this reason, the room was full, the questions were very well-considered, and the answers... the coaches’ answers generated new questions from the participants. That’s exactly what makes us glad. It means that we have a community of teachers for whom the mission they have assumed is not suspended at a scheduled moment when their class hours are over. And it also means we have plans for the next offline meeting…
With nearly 70 primary school teachers from dozens of localities of Moldova, we touched upon the issues related to teachers’ involvement and role in a sensitive moment of the psycho-emotional development of today’s children. SigurOnline specialists spoke about the following:
- How and why do children access sexual content online?
- How can we cope with these situations when they access it occasionally? What do we do when children are interested in sexual content? What hides behind this interest? What motivates them to produce photos and videos with sexualized content? What is the teacher’s “code of conduct” in such situations?
- Signs and indicators demonstrating the child’s exposure to sexual content
- Suggestions and tips for discussing with the child and the parent
- Interactive activities in the classroom
- and, of course, a number of examples and case studies inspired by the files managed by the Child Safeguarding Team.
However, this event would not have taken place without the valuable support and involvement of our reliable partners – the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Research of the Republic of Moldova and the Embassy of France in Chisinau.
In this material,we have gathered emotional outbursts and impressions of the participants at the conference held on November 30.
The INTERSECTION program is aimed at supporting the educational system in promoting children’s online safety in order to prevent online environment risks. We want every school to become an online safety area for every child, where teachers are equipped with knowledge, skills, and working tools, and pupils develop their critical thinking, using online resources in a responsible and positive way.
At the same time, the INTERSECTION conferences are meant to help teachers by preparing them and equipping them with teaching materials for the campaign in the context of the European Safer Internet Day which is held annually in early February.
