In the same way that kids learn to swim in pools and beaches with armbands and floats, shouldn’t we also teach them to swim in the unfathomable sea that is largely the internet? We agree that wonderful things circulate on the net, but at the same time not a few pirates navigate and there are more than one shark and dangerous species ready to gobble us up at the first opportunity. So why do we send the kids swimming for him without a sad life jacket?
In February 2022, the National Observatory of Technology and Society (ONTSI) published the study ‘The use of technologies by minors in Spain’, where it already estimates the volume of minors between 10 and 15 years of age who use the Internet at 98% on a regular basis. Another study, in this case from Unicef ??(Study on the impact of technology on adolescence) is much more disturbing: it estimates that one in ten adolescents has received a sexual proposition from an adult on the Internet, and that one in three makes a “problematic” use of the network, problematic being understood as addiction to video games or online games.
It is for everything written above that we celebrate the appearance of The adventures of the cyber team (Shackleton Kids) for kids from 7-8 years old to 11-12, a work in a school key (we do not know if it will continue as a series) written by Cristina Serret and illustrated by Artur Laperla, who has had the advice of Yaiza Rubio, one of the cybersecurity experts in our country.
She herself becomes a character in this book as the new teacher who will teach cybersecurity classes at the school (bravo!) where María, Álex, Sara and Diego, the group that stars in this story, study. “I’ve been dedicating myself to this for 10 years and I think it’s very necessary,” explains the hacker, who currently works as an intelligence analyst for ElevenPaths, Telefónica’s cybersecurity unit. Teacher and multi-award winner, Yaiza Rubio has seen them in many colors on the internet and for this reason she immediately agreed to participate in this project, which raises the safety of children on the internet through short stories based on reality, and which end with a couple of pages in key of recommendations.
For example, the book opens with the group of friends who observe how a man in a trench coat appears to them in the most unexpected places and gathers what appears to be information. She is the new cybersecurity teacher at the school in disguise, who wanted to show them in a practical way how malware works, bothering them in real life. “It is not a giant bundle of information on how the internet should and can be used. It is a recreation in the form of a story of what happens in reality, although in real life sometimes things are harder. The cases we raise They are very suitable, although we do it in a nuanced and softened way, because in reality, many times the impact that children are subjected to is much harder than what we really deal with in the book,” says Rubio.
It is also an interesting way of approaching the vocabulary of the Internet, which children end up learning on their own and sometimes the hard way: viruses, Trojans, spyware, ransomware, grooming, false friends… “From a very young age they use the Internet or are exposed So from a young age they should also be aware of the risks and learn good protection practices,” he concludes. And, parents, not everything happens by putting a good antivirus. If you don’t read you too.
Another excellent proposal that has recently reached bookstores is Fake Over (Flamboyant), by the journalist, researcher and teacher Nereida Carrillo, which has magnificent illustrations by Alberto Montt. This book, however, is more focused on the so-called fake news, with the aim of promoting media education and the critical spirit of young Internet surfers.
It starts with a small survey on terminology linked to disinformation with questions such as: the manipulation of audio or video using artificial intelligence is called… deepfake, cheapfake or infoxication? And it ends with a decalogue of “informative detoxification”. Through: abundant information, playful suggestions and games that introduce adolescents to a terminology that is not foreign to them, but that clarifies it without any type of indoctrination.
Here haters, trolls, bots circulate… and astroturfing, phishing or shallowfakes are practiced. Conspiracy theories are discussed (those arising from the Covid are some of the protagonists), a review of the great lies of history is given, and the types of biases to which we are subjected are raised, including the Of the media. But not everything is limited to verifying, but also to contributing, especially tools to verify what we read, what reaches us, what we suspect is not true… And there we have the ‘Pantera method’, the ” three W’s”, or the guidelines for identifying botnets…
An undoubtedly essential book today in the face of excess information and also as a tool to know how to deal with scourges such as cyberbullying or harassment by trolls on social networks. Like the previous one, focusing only on 12 to 14-year-olds is a mistake for us, since parents can also get a lot of use out of it. (Additional material for teachers and educators is also available)
Without departing from the internet and social networks, Monsieur Mouch and Maria-Paz offer us a new installment of this series in a comic style that, with the TRUTH in capital letters, deals with important issues, for children aged 8-9, such as death, procreation and now harassment. I really want to know what death is! and I really know how babies are made! precede this new I really know how to say no to bullying! (Takatuka), which is precisely about harassment through social networks through two protagonists of the same age of the public to whom it is directed. The books take advantage of the horizontal format to play with pages of two or more panels with pages dedicated to a single panel, which manages to give more emphasis to what is being told.
The issue is not new. After a vacation time, Julio returns to school and meets his friend Emma again, very sad and small. She ends up telling him that she has been teased online for a t-shirt, after refusing to kiss a lousy classmate. Reviewing recent events, they realize that Emma has not been the only one to suffer from the teasing of her classmates.
With a language very close to children and without complicating the situations represented, the authors give subtle tools to young readers through courageous examples that go through assuming the problem, taking charge of the situation and not being isolated. Parents, friends, and teachers are good allies. It includes a small glossary in case there are any doubts and to call things by their name at home.
Other books on the subject and already commented on in this section of Tales that tell are ‘Fake News’ (Bindi Books) by Simona Levi and Marc Planas, illustrated by Kim Amate for adolescents from 10-11 years old and ‘Likeo, therefore I exist ‘ (Takatuka) by Isabel Meira and Bernardo P. Carvalhod, also for young people from 11-12 years old.
