WAN-IFRA, which is offering the guide free of charge, is encouraging newspapers to use it to attract partners and sponsors. The guide, run as an insert or a series, is designed to help parents and teachers reduce the risks children face online and help children better use the internet in their education.
The materials can be found at www.wan-press.org/nie/home.php.
"Parents and teachers especially those who are less internet savvy than children need help to steer children into safe and more productive practices on the web," said Dr. Aralynn McMane, executive director of Young Readership Development for WAN-IFRA.
"The internet guide covers everything from how to avoid predators and 'cyberbullying' to helping kids reject plagiarism and to determine the credibility of information. And it comes from a source that parents and teachers trust their local newspaper."
Offering the guide for publication around Safer Internet Day aims to strengthen the newspaper's role as a media literacy ally of parents and teachers. Safer Internet Day is an initiative of the European Union's Insafe network, a part of the EU Safer Internet programme.
WAN-IFRA's second edition of "Internet in the Family: A guide to helping children when they go online", adds new art, sections on social networks, cyberbullying and newspaper online news. It also includes, in cooperation with Microsoft, 20 "Be a Sh@rk on the internet" Twitter-style tips that newspapers can use for a youth sticker contest.
The guide, which has been endorsed by educators and media literacy experts in several countries, was written for WAN-IFRA by Roxana Morduchowicz, Argentina media education director, and is supported by the paper manufacturer Norske Skog.
