Google's Sé genial en Internet Launches

FOSI was proud to attend Tuesday’s launch of Sé genial en Internet, the Spanish language version of Google’s Be Internet Awesome digital citizenship and safety program. The two-part launch event, hosted at South Gate Middle School in Los Angeles, California, consisted of a morning panel called Keeping Families Safer Online with discussions about online safety and the five pillars of Be Internet Awesome: Be Internet Smart, Be Internet Alert, Be Internet Strong, Be Internet Kind, and Be Internet Brave.

There were a wide variety of organizations represented including those in the online safety sphere, Hispanic serving organizations, the education and research world, as well as a nonprofit in the professional development domain. The second portion of the day included demos and interactive activities with Sé genial en Internet for local families. Overall the day was able to showcase Google’s new online safety resources that are available to Latino families, community leaders, government officials, and educators.

In addition to Sé genial en Internet, Google also launched version 2.0 of Be Internet Awesome. Google’s revamp includes an expanded curriculum and updated Interland game, additional educator resources including the creation of ready-made slides and presentations for teachers to use in their classrooms, and a guide for the Family Link app which helps parents manage their child’s app use and screen time.

In general, Be Internet Awesome is a fun program designed to teach children the tips and tricks needed to stay safe on the internet as well as be confident in their abilities to use the web. The program features a web-based game called Interland. Playing Interland provides five foundational lessons across four mini-games which include quests to deny hackers, sink phishers, one-up cyberbullies, outsmart oversharers, and become safe, confident explorers of the online world. Additionally, there is a classroom curriculum for teachers filled with lesson plans and activities to play as a class and a pledge that parents can discuss and sign as a family.

The five pillars of Be Internet Awesome focus on important skills kids and their parents should know about online safety. To Be Internet Smart, users learn to share with care and distinguish what is and isn’t appropriate to share online. To Be Internet Alert, users learn what is real or fake and information is given about online phishers and scammers. In order to Be Internet Strong, students secure their secrets by making strong passwords and having safe privacy settings. While learning to Be Internet Kind, kids learn that it’s cool to be kind with a lesson on cyberbullying. Lastly, in order to Be Internet Brave, participants learn that when in doubt, talk it out. This supports families having the important and ongoing talk about their family’s online safety.

FOSI was able to distribute its Family Safety Contract in both English and Spanish to program participants, as well as the 7 Steps to Good Digital Parenting.

Google is a member of the Family Online Safety Institute. For more information, please see Google’s resource page and blog post on Sé genial en Internet. All photos courtesy of Google.