Information security of children: who is responsible for protecting schoolchildren from fakes?

How the school helps parents protect their children from fake news

Children’s information security is an important component of their overall well-being and an integral part of their protection in the digital age. The issues of digital hygiene and protection from disinformation have become particularly relevant in recent years, including for the younger generation.

According to a nationwide survey, 37% of Russians reported that their children encountered false information. But, according to experts, the percentage is higher, because these are only identified cases.

“We asked the question: who should be responsible for protecting children from false information? 70% thought that these were parents and family, 36% – teachers and schools, and another 24% – the federal government as a whole. We are pleased that parents have begun to take responsibility, which has been a general sociological trend over the last 3–5 years. To the question: “Which sources of education news do respondents trust?” – we also got good numbers. The main authoritative source is teachers and school administration. According to the results obtained, the absolute majority of Russians are, to one degree or another, interested in news about Russian school education (86%),” said Kirill Rodin, director of government relations at VTsIOM.

According to the director of the Federal State Budgetary Institution “Institute for Educational Development Strategy” Maxim Kostenko, it is important to provide an information security tool directly to the teacher and the head of the educational organization. This is why cybersecurity and media literacy programs for the teaching community are being implemented.

“These are advanced training courses for teachers and school principals and even for regional ministers of education. Everyone needs to understand how to react. Second, we are creating a core of additional educational programs. Whatever teachers teach: physics, chemistry, literature, the curriculum will definitely include cyberbullying, information security, digital literacy, how to behave on social networks, how to help parents and children navigate the digital environment,” Kostenko said.

Educational work is also carried out with parents. There is a unified education program, and the lion’s share of it is devoted to how to orient class teachers and curators to interact with parents. There must be a common understanding of educational goals and objectives, introduction through the positive employment of children.

“Historical education, spiritual and moral education is what unites us. All values ​​are spelled out in Presidential Decree No. 809. A unified federal system of scientific and methodological support for teachers has also been created. There, in addition to advanced training and methodological assistance, many educational activities are carried out. This is also a community of teacher-mentors, the All-Russian Expert Pedagogical Council. All this is necessary so that in an informal setting all issues and challenges, in particular information security, can be discussed, identified, and received feedback,” Kostenko concluded.

Photo: Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation