Parents' Corner
Practical tools to address the subject of social networks at home
The overall objective of The School of Social Networks is to educate children in elementary school on how to use social media safely and responsibly by letting them interact and experiment with chatbots in a fun, safe and pedagogical online environment.
The School of Social Networks provides a starting point for an ongoing conversation at home.
How to use School of Social Networks at home?
Test drive School of Social Network’s chatbot for children and discover the list of safety points addressed by the chatbot. The conversation, which involves cute little monsters, starts with a casual chit-chat and progressively introduces main security points.
Background info
Many social media platforms have age restrictions in place which – in theory – prevent access to children under 13 to 16 years old, depending also on national law. Yet, studies show that many children have access to, and are engaged with, multiple social networks at a much younger age without any parental control, sometimes as early as age 7 or 8. Meanwhile, online safety and media literacy courses are primarily addressed at secondary school level, with a clear lack of teacher expertise and resources for the younger age ranges.
The School of Social Networks aims to empower children and young people from an early age onwards. Together with their peers, parents and teachers, pupils will start building the appropriate knowledge, skills and attitudes to become active, critical and creative online thinkers and doers. They will feel more confident and comfortable to express themselves, to communicate with friends and family, and to enjoy and create different kinds of content and services, while drawing upon each other’s help and support whenever needed.