Budapest, February 10, 2015 13:45

On the occasion of the Safer Internet Day, Telekom teaches 1000 children of 14 schools in 12 cities the conscious and safe use of online technologies. Telekom’s volunteers extend practical skills regarding the opportunities and risks inherent in the use of the net, the ways of setting options and filtering content as well as the netiquette.

We hear almost every day about conflict situations that abound in the virtual space and that may involve the risk of serious traumas. Alcohol and drug abuse, military, suicide, plague, sects, sexual orientation, gambling, just to mention a few of the categories we can ban from our children’s computer, telephone and tablet with the help of the Norton Family program available on Telekom’s website . According to law every internet provider is obliged to ensure free software on its homepage to enable the protection of underage persons. However, Telekom is doing even more than that through its SmartDigital program: it has educated tens of thousands of children so far in a school environment on how to use the net more safely and consciously with the help of Telekom’s volunteering employees. In the forthcoming phase the SmartDigital program, addressing schoolchildren so far and looking back on a past of several years, is being expanded to parents and teachers.

In the framework of its SmartDigital Program Telekom intends to contribute to the development of Hungary’s digital maturity and literacy. It is already four years now that, in cooperation with the Digital Knowledge Academy, school lectures have been conducted to provide a lot of hands-on skills to children concerning the opportunities and risks inherent in internet use, the practical skills of setting options and filtering content as well as the netiquette. 1000 children of 14 schools in 12 cities are taught simultaneously on the Safer Internet Day. In addition to three schools in the capital, education is conducted on February 10 at schools in Budaörs, Szentendre, Diósd, Győr, Cegléd, Szolnok, Eger, Miskolc, Szeged, Pécs and Nyíregyháza. In an interactive lecture in the framework of a forty-five minutes’ classroom session the speakers address basic issues like password protection, filtering risky content to solutions safeguarding from harassment, obviously in consideration of the special features of the age-group concerned.

“Telekom’s SmartDigital Program has so far operated as a free of charge community service for schoolchildren. We have recognised, however that a real dialogue is required in this important matter, for which it is indispensable to provide adults, parents and teachers with the adequate skills that enable them to provide self-confident responses to the children’s questions. Therefore we are launching online courses from this year with a content tailored to parents and teachers” – said Iván Rózsa, Magyar Telekom’s communication director.

Further information about the initiative and the training programs is available at Telekom’s new Smart Digital Program website, which encompasses every online education program. Help is available for students, parents and teachers to enable them to follow the digital world more confidently.

The Safer Internet Day is an initiative of the European Union, which is subscribed to in several countries of the world, and is accompanied by the organisation of extraordinary net community, school and technology programs. The aim of the global campaign scheduled to take place on the second day of the second week of the second month of each year is the conscious and safe use of online technologies. The slogan of the day is: “Let’s create a better internet together!”

About Digital Hungary

The Partnership Agreement for Digital Hungary signed by Magyar Telekom and the government of Hungary also supports the intention of the government to make the high-speed broadband internet available in every Hungarian household by 2018, two years ahead of the deadline set in EU’s Digital Agenda. Magyar Telekom has launched a comprehensive program to implement Digital Hungary, the pillars of which are: development of the digital infrastructure, digital services and digital competencies. The first landmark is Nyíregyháza, where the aim is to make the high-speed internet connection available for every household, and thus enable the population to use the most advanced services, improve the city’s efficiency and the competitiveness of businesses. Magyar Telekom’s subsidiary, T-Systems Hungary possesses the skills through which it can assume a long-term role in the introduction of digital city solutions and in extending services. The program to be implemented in Nyíregyháza in 2015 is the first phase of the partners’ cooperation, which will also serve as a pattern for further landmarks in Digital Hungary.