Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Milan, March 21 2023 – A handbook for the safe and healthy access of minors to the online world, written based on the experiences of Milanese parents, teachers and educators. This is the objective of the "Digital educational pact of the city of Milan", an initiative which, promoted by the University of Milan-Bicocca and the municipal administration, opens up to the city with a cycle of public events, which can be attended at the Steam Factory and in streaming.

After the initial phase of discussion which took place in February with teachers, parents and pupils of five comprehensive schools, the project, presented during the Milan Digital week last November, comes to life with information meetings to share the objectives, the results of the exploratory phase and expert opinion. With the title "Digital at school and in the family: do we give ourselves rules?", in the first appointment scheduled for Saturday 25 March at 10 we will talk about the impact of digital on minors from a social and psycho-pedagogical profile. On April 30th, at the same time, the effects on well-being and health will be examined, and on May 29th the legal and safety aspects will be addressed. The conclusions will form the basis for the next phase of the project which, between May and June, involves a survey with a questionnaire to families with minors and teachers in the city of Milan.

"The reflection on the relationship between boys and girls and digital is increasingly current, a subject of debate for the entire educational community – underlines the deputy mayor and councilor for education Anna Scavuzzo –. Digital tools are in fact today part of the daily lives of girls too and children, and it is essential that the public discussion between specialists and the Academy opens up to dialogue with families, parents, schools and other educational institutions. As part of the Musa project, it will therefore be possible to build paths to arrive at proposals together educational tools, concrete tools for activities, attention and useful indications both for families and for educators and teachers". 
  
"The aim – explains Layla Pavone, coordinator of the Board for innovation and digital transformation of the Municipality of Milan – as anticipated in the presentation of the initiative to the public, on the occasion of the Milan Digital week, is to arrive at a document of recommendations on digital education of children and pre-adolescents, written in a participatory way and an expression of the entire city community. It is a need that has been presented to us by several parties in the city, in particular by groups of parents. The starting idea is that a common effort of convergence on some indications and concrete choices can help families, and in general those involved in educational processes, for the gradual entry of their children into the online world".

Suggestions on the minimum age for the first smartphone and for independent surfing on the internet, on the limits on the use of social media by children, on school requests for homework to be done online, are among the objectives of the project.

"It is increasingly clear that digitalisation - observes Marco Gui, professor at the Department of Sociology and Social Research at the University of Milan-Bicocca and director of the Digital Wellbeing research center - is making the educational task more complex, at school and in family, due to the risks associated with the early use of digital devices, in terms of both safety and health. Very often parents feel unprepared for this task, due to a lack of technical knowledge but also because strong social and commercial pressures make it difficult to do adequate choices, in a context in which sometimes everything seems inevitable. There are already many initiatives on these issues, but a truly collective reflection has not yet been made. There is a lack of indications on concrete issues to support families. A shared effort is needed to make system to help parents, providing them with guidance and tools to face one of the most demanding educational challenges of our times. Milan, at the forefront of digital transformation, can lead innovation on this front too."

The events can be followed in live streaming and can be reviewed at www.youtube.com/@pattoeducativodigitale. After each meeting it will be possible to participate in the discussion via the platform Join Me.  
  
The initiative is part of the Musa project (Innovation Ecosystems) and in particular responds to one of the main objectives of the intervention area (Spoke 6) aimed at making innovative and emerging technologies more inclusive and accessible.

The parents of "Waiting for the smartphone", Sicupp Lombardia, the School of the local Police Corps, ATS Milan, the Territorial School Office of Milan, Corecom Lombardia, the Open Schools Office, the Guarantor of the rights of children and adolescence, the Observatory for combating bullying and cyberbullying.