Social media literacy or all-out bans? How children can be better protected against cyberviolence

While Europe debates how to keep children off social media, EIGE's research is asking, what happens when they get there?

In countless classrooms across Europe, teachers caution students about being careful what they share online.

Yet too many girls listening know that this advice is too little, too late.

That's because something has already happened to them or to one of their friends… and that's usually the reason the lesson in online safety is happening at all.

As part of our work on gender-based cyber violence, girls across ten Member States told EIGE researchers similar versions of this story.

Schools tend to talk about online safety after an incident, and rarely before it. As a result, the message feels dated and disconnected from the platforms the students actually use. And when young people do report what is happening to them online, adults often minimise it, dismiss it, or break their confidence.

“We cannot wait until something goes wrong to start talking to children about life online. Digital literacy must be part of their education from the start, giving them the tools to navigate the online world safely and confidently,” says EIGE Director Carlien Scheele. 

Giulia Grandin, policy analyst and equality officer at Brussels-based think tank the Lisbon Council conducts research and policy analysis on children's online safety.

And, from her experience, young people’s voices are the most important in the room.

“Centering children is the most important thing we can do. Literally listening to them, hearing from them, and asking how it affects them,” says Giulia.

For years, prevention came down to one simple instruction: don't share intimate images of yourself. Technology has overtaken that advice.