The Vodafone Turkey Foundation and the Community Volunteers Foundation (TOG) are launching the “Digital Friend” education project with the aim of ensuring that children remain more conscious, stable, and confident in the online world. Focusing on primary and secondary school students, this initiative aims to reach a total of 5,000 students in 7 different cities in its first year.

Only 1 in 4 Children Consider Their Digital Life Quality to be Good

The fact that children and young people grow up immersed in the internet brings with it significant risks and stability issues. Research data from the global Vodafone Foundation, in partnership with Save The Children, reveals that only one in four children and young people considers their digital life quality to be good. The remaining three children struggle with sleep disorders, intense stress, and the inability to maintain the boundaries between online and offline life.

Launched within the scope of the Vodafone Group Foundation’s SkillsuploadJr. The program, Digital Friend offers practical solutions that can be directly integrated into formal education to reverse this situation. The project aims to enable children to recognize the cyber risks they face at an early age, access accurate information, and protect their digital world.

Peer Cooperation and Interactive Modules

Unlike rote learning and didactic explanations, Digital Friend follows a model where children directly participate, question, and gain experience through game-based activities. The school-based implementation of the project is undertaken by young Community Volunteers who have undergone special education processes. In this way, it is easier for children to develop empathy and internalize reliable habits through the peer learning model.

Education Curriculum: 3 Special Modules of 6 Hours

The trainings, customized for both primary school (8-9 years old) and secondary school (10-14 years old) levels, consist of 3 modules totaling 6 hours:

• Primary School Level: My Digital Boundaries and Sharing, My Digital Balance and Safe Choices, I Am Safe, I Can Ask for Help.
• Secondary School Level: My Digital Identity and Privacy, My Digital Rights and Cyberbullying, Safe and Informed Choices in the Digital World.

5,000 Students to be Reached in 7 Provinces

Initially, a pilot program will be held in 7 provinces: Bitlis, Izmir, Ankara, Hatay, Istanbul, Samsun, and Diyarbakır. The applications are starting. 105 young Community Volunteers are actively involved as facilitators in the field work. This model, which will provide competencies in critical areas such as screen time management, coping with cyberbullying, and protecting personal information, aims to be expanded to wider audiences in later periods by being improved with feedback from the field.