About the organisation
The Lithuanian Safer Internet Centre (SIC) exists to promote a safer and better use of the internet and mobile technologies among children and young people. The SIC is developing and expanding a national platform while maintaining three main safer internet services: awareness centre, helpline and hotline.
It is a common initiative of the consortium of four organisations: the national coordinator - National Agency of Education (NAE) under the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, the Communications Regulatory Authority of the Republic of Lithuania (RRT), Child Line (CL) organisation, and association "Langas į ateitį" (LIA) that capitalises on existing years of experience, knowledge and collected resources. All of the services combined have contributed to previous safer internet projects or actions since 2012.
Awareness centre
The Lithuanian Safer Internet Centre (SIC) constantly develops and supports tools, methods and resources promoting internet safety awareness. Resources are being developed for various target groups:
- For kids and adolescents – resources promoting safe online browsing, informing about possible threats online and their prevention, raising awareness about positive online content, encouraging them to be creators of positive online content.
- For parents and care-takers – resources to improve online safety knowledge and educational advice to pass digital skills and online safety skills to their kids.
- For teachers, social workers and other educators – resources and lesson plans for use during educational activities.
Awareness raising is carried out through organising national campaigns (most important are Safer Internet Day (SID) and week, and All Digital Week), participation in local and national events, organising online and offline trainings to teachers, meeting with students during seminars or at summer camps, and promotion of online safety using traditional and social media.
One of the main awareness-raising tools in Lithuania is the national SIC website, www.draugiskasinternetas.lt, which is dedicated to the dissemination of all safer internet awareness-raising resources and related activities. NAE (National Agency of Education) maintains the website as an awareness-raising instrument for Lithuanian society and the educational community, and coordinates the main activities of the awareness centre.
Helpline
Child Line, established in 1997, provides free and anonymous help to children and teenagers by phone and online. Child Line consultants listen to the children's concerns and try to find ways together to solve their difficulties, and to encourage them to share their worries with the people they trust. If necessary, children are referred to other institutions. There are currently 339 consultants of which 333 are volunteers providing help to children and teenagers.
The functions of Child Line within the framework of safer internet are:
- to provide emotional support for children and teenagers by phone and online related to their use of online technologies, particularly in relation to harmful contact (grooming), harmful conduct (cyberbullying), harmful content, and uncomfortable or scary experiences in using online technologies.
- to consult parents online on issues of child safety on the internet.
Hotline
The hotline was established by RRT (Communications Regulatory Authority of the Republic of Lithuania) in 2007, in the framework of the Safer Internet Programme of the EC. The hotline has been a member of INHOPE (International Association of Internet Hotlines) since 2008. Since 2019, the name of the hotline is Švarus internetas (Clean internet).
Reports are accepted and processed according to the operational procedures manual approved by the Police Department under the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania and by the Office of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics of the Republic of Lithuania under agreements with the RRT.
Reports on illegal or harmful content, such as pornography or child sexual abuse material (CSAM), content inciting racial or ethnic hatred, cyberbullying, content leading to violence or having other negative influences on minors can be submitted by completing a special online report form at https://www.svarusinternetas.lt.
Youth participation
Through the Safer Internet Youth Panel, children and young people can express their views and exchange knowledge and experiences about online safety. For this goal, the Lithuanian Safer Internet Centre (SIC) arranges a wide range of creative activities and various competitions, where it tries to involve more young people not only as the audience but as actors too.
Key successes
A consortium of four partners operates the national Safer Internet Centre (SIC) in Lithuania. NAE coordinates implementation of the project and awareness centre activities, promoting youth initiatives as well. LIA implements awareness raising and training activities, RRT is responsible for the hotline, and Child Line manages the helpline.
An awareness campaign related to the annual Safer Internet Day (SID) events is always organised jointly by all Lithuanian SIC partners, using the many opportunities, which brings national cooperation. SID is celebrated on the European, national and regional level in many Lithuanian schools, and Safer Internet Week has become an annual Lithuanian tradition as well.
It has become a tradition to meet with students or teachers every year with a campaign ‘Safe online during summer time!'. The campaign, which first took place in 2015, is organised in children's summer camps to raise awareness about internet safety.
The SIC developed a certification programme of Safer Internet Ambassadors (SIA) based on the best European practice and trained a large number of schoolteachers in Lithuania. Maintenance of the SIA community and youth panel are ongoing, while strengthening media and information literacy skills in these groups.
Key partners/supporters
National support is provided by approximately 20 companies and organisations.
The constant supporters of the Lithuanian SIC are:
- Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania
- Office of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics of the Republic of Lithuania
- The Children's Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Lithuania
- The Police Department under the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania
- Lithuanian Research and Education Network (LITNET)
- National Digital Coalition
About the organisation
The Lithuanian Safer Internet Centre (SIC) exists to promote a safer and better use of the internet and mobile technologies among children and young people. The SIC is developing and expanding a national platform while maintaining three main safer internet services: awareness centre, helpline and hotline.
It is a common initiative of the consortium of four organisations: the national coordinator - National Agency of Education (NAE) under the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, the Communications Regulatory Authority of the Republic of Lithuania (RRT), Child Line (CL) organisation, and association "Langas į ateitį" (LIA) that capitalises on existing years of experience, knowledge and collected resources. All of the services combined have contributed to previous safer internet projects or actions since 2012.
Awareness centre
The Lithuanian Safer Internet Centre (SIC) constantly develops and supports tools, methods and resources promoting internet safety awareness. Resources are being developed for various target groups:
- For kids and adolescents – resources promoting safe online browsing, informing about possible threats online and their prevention, raising awareness about positive online content, encouraging them to be creators of positive online content.
- For parents and care-takers – resources to improve online safety knowledge and educational advice to pass digital skills and online safety skills to their kids.
- For teachers, social workers and other educators – resources and lesson plans for use during educational activities.
Awareness raising is carried out through organising national campaigns (most important are Safer Internet Day (SID) and week, and All Digital Week), participation in local and national events, organising online and offline trainings to teachers, meeting with students during seminars or at summer camps, and promotion of online safety using traditional and social media.
One of the main awareness-raising tools in Lithuania is the national SIC website, www.draugiskasinternetas.lt, which is dedicated to the dissemination of all safer internet awareness-raising resources and related activities. NAE (National Agency of Education) maintains the website as an awareness-raising instrument for Lithuanian society and the educational community, and coordinates the main activities of the awareness centre.
Helpline
Child Line, established in 1997, provides free and anonymous help to children and teenagers by phone and online. Child Line consultants listen to the children's concerns and try to find ways together to solve their difficulties, and to encourage them to share their worries with the people they trust. If necessary, children are referred to other institutions. There are currently 339 consultants of which 333 are volunteers providing help to children and teenagers.
The functions of Child Line within the framework of safer internet are:
- to provide emotional support for children and teenagers by phone and online related to their use of online technologies, particularly in relation to harmful contact (grooming), harmful conduct (cyberbullying), harmful content, and uncomfortable or scary experiences in using online technologies.
- to consult parents online on issues of child safety on the internet.
Hotline
The hotline was established by RRT (Communications Regulatory Authority of the Republic of Lithuania) in 2007, in the framework of the Safer Internet Programme of the EC. The hotline has been a member of INHOPE (International Association of Internet Hotlines) since 2008. Since 2019, the name of the hotline is Švarus internetas (Clean internet).
Reports are accepted and processed according to the operational procedures manual approved by the Police Department under the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania and by the Office of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics of the Republic of Lithuania under agreements with the RRT.
Reports on illegal or harmful content, such as pornography or child sexual abuse material (CSAM), content inciting racial or ethnic hatred, cyberbullying, content leading to violence or having other negative influences on minors can be submitted by completing a special online report form at https://www.svarusinternetas.lt.
Youth participation
Through the Safer Internet Youth Panel, children and young people can express their views and exchange knowledge and experiences about online safety. For this goal, the Lithuanian Safer Internet Centre (SIC) arranges a wide range of creative activities and various competitions, where it tries to involve more young people not only as the audience but as actors too.
Key successes
A consortium of four partners operates the national Safer Internet Centre (SIC) in Lithuania. NAE coordinates implementation of the project and awareness centre activities, promoting youth initiatives as well. LIA implements awareness raising and training activities, RRT is responsible for the hotline, and Child Line manages the helpline.
An awareness campaign related to the annual Safer Internet Day (SID) events is always organised jointly by all Lithuanian SIC partners, using the many opportunities, which brings national cooperation. SID is celebrated on the European, national and regional level in many Lithuanian schools, and Safer Internet Week has become an annual Lithuanian tradition as well.
It has become a tradition to meet with students or teachers every year with a campaign ‘Safe online during summer time!'. The campaign, which first took place in 2015, is organised in children's summer camps to raise awareness about internet safety.
The SIC developed a certification programme of Safer Internet Ambassadors (SIA) based on the best European practice and trained a large number of schoolteachers in Lithuania. Maintenance of the SIA community and youth panel are ongoing, while strengthening media and information literacy skills in these groups.
Key partners/supporters
National support is provided by approximately 20 companies and organisations.
The constant supporters of the Lithuanian SIC are:
- Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania
- Office of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics of the Republic of Lithuania
- The Children's Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Lithuania
- The Police Department under the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania
- Lithuanian Research and Education Network (LITNET)
- National Digital Coalition
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