Keeping kids safe in a digital world

Last week, Telenor Montenegro hosted its first ever “Safe Internet Forum”. With attendees from government, local NGOs, media, industry peers, students and employees, the Safe Internet Forum provided Telenor’s Montenegrin business unit with the opportunity talk about child safety on the Internet.

In February 2012, Telenor Montenegro signed a memorandum of understanding with the Montenegrin Ministry for Information Society and Telecommunications to initiate a joint project, called “Connecting Generations”, to improve online child safety in the country.

1,000 students participate in Internet safety education

As a part of its cooperation with the Ministry, Telenor Montenegro trained 20 ambassadors of safe Internet. In addition, they hosted 40 peer education workshops that reached more than 1,000 students in the sixth and seventh grades in five different elementary schools.

During Telenor Montenegro’s Safe Internet Forum, CEO Kaaren Hilsen recapped the success of the Connecting Generations project during her opening address.

“Since its start in February 2012, I’ve had the pleasure to follow the progress and development of this project. It was particularly interesting to see so much energy and knowledge shown by the Safe Internet Young Ambassadors,” said Kaaren.

“We all have an important role in strengthening child safety on the Internet, and we have a lot of work ahead of us,” she added.

Almost every child in primary school uses Internet

The Ministry conducted research in local primary schools, and presented their findings during Telenor Montenegro’s Safe Internet Forum.

• 95.7 percent of students surveyed use the Internet
• 71.5 percent of parents surveyed use the Internet
• 91.7 percent of parents surveyed believe that their child has not experienced any inappropriate situations on the Internet
• 60.8 percent of parents talk to their kids about how to use the Internet.
• 19.7 percent of parents explain to their children how to use Internet safely

Project continues into new school year

Telenor online safety project will continue to reach out to local schools, starting up again in mid-September. This year’s slogan is “Win Internet, surf wisely”, and will expand to 20 more schools in 10 cities. In addition, they will work more with parents and have a stronger focus on a more targeted media campaign. Telenor employees will have an active role in the workshops that are conducted throughout the year.

Spreading the Web, responsibly

“It was great to see Telenor Montenegro really take the lead in raising the issue of online child safety in Montenegro. They have had a very successful cooperation with local government, through their project to educate primary school students on responsible Internet use. Telenor Montenegro is actually the first of Telenor’s business units in Central Eastern Europe (CEE) to have launched the Child Abuse Filter.” said Elisabeth Biering, Director Corporate Responsibility in Telenor Group.

“These activities are very much in line with Telenor’s belief in spreading the benefits of the Internet in a responsible and safe way. We are excited to see how Montenegro’s project progresses and to see these types of initiatives spread throughout Telenor’s CEE markets,” she added.