"MedienScoutZ": Young helps young with knowledge and expertise

MedienScoutZ present their commitment at Safer Internet Day 2024.

The "MedienScoutZ" of the Realschule Salzgitter-Bad, Gottfried-Linke-Realschule and Hauptschule am Fredenberg and the project participants.

Projects in which young people pass on their knowledge and media skills to other pupils at their schools.

Claudia Kramer, chief inspector at the Salzgitter/Peine/Wolfenbüttel police station and commissioner for youth affairs, and André Greco, media educator at the children, youth and family department of the city of Salzgitter, made it clear in their welcoming address to guests how great the dangers on the Internet are and that the piles of files at the police are growing. Child porn, bullying, stalking or nude photos: many young people and children simply surf or share photos without knowing the legal and ethical boundaries. Parents and teachers are often unaware that the acquisition, possession and distribution of child pornography, for example, is a punishable offense.

However, the police can only act once these incidents have been reported. "That's why education is so important," emphasized Claudia Kramer. Young people are often afraid to talk to parents or teachers about sexuality, harassment or exposure online, for example. But who should they talk to about what happens or is sent online?

There is a new contact point at three schools in Salzgitter with the "MedienScoutZ". "The pilot project was run by Gottfried-Linke-Realschule from 2022 to 2023. The pilot project was presented to all other secondary schools on Safer Internet Day 2023. The response was very positive. Other schools showed interest," said André Greco, looking back.

The three schools Gottfried-Linke-Realschule, Hauptschule am Fredenberg and Realschule Salzgitter-Bad now have "MedienScoutZ". "We are proud of what you have achieved and what you are teaching at your schools," emphasized the media educator from the city of Salzgitter.

The special thing: The young "MedienScoutZ" volunteer at their schools to raise awareness and teach media skills and presented their projects to the guests at the Forellenhof youth culture workshop:

The six "MedienScoutZ" from the Realschule Salzgitter-Bad played a vivid game of "Who wants to be a millionaire" with questions about the right to one's own image, in which the guests were taught the correct answers in a playful way.

The 13 "MedienScoutZ" from the Gottfried Die Linke secondary school teach pupils how to use media correctly and safely to avoid becoming victims of cyberbullying. A "MedienScoutZ" working group has now been set up to pass on this knowledge.

The six "MedienScoutZ" at Hauptschule Am Fredenberg also do this: they provide information for pupils and parents on all aspects of gaming. The motto is "Have the courage to ask".

The plan is to collaborate with three elementary school in the city. Here, the "ScoutZ" will pass on their specialist knowledge to primary school pupils.

Claudia Kramer and André Greco were delighted with the great interest and response to this prevention and media literacy project. They will have to consider whether to bundle their knowledge and pass it on at "information days" for several schools or/and also invite external speakers for presentations, because developments on the Internet are so fast-moving, new things are being added and prevention work is becoming increasingly important, for which further financial support is then required.

Information:

What is a "MedienScoutZ"? "MedienScoutZ" is a prevention and media literacy project of the Salzgitter/Peine/Wolfenbüttel police department and the city of Salzgitter, which is sponsored and financially supported by the local prevention council. In addition, the "Wir helfen Kindern" association supports the project financially, as does the state of Lower Saxony.

This prevention and media literacy project is unique in the region.

What makes it special: Committed pupils undergo further training so that they can then provide information on these topics at their school, answer questions and show a media-relevant presence.

The main task of the "MedienScoutZ" is to be available to their fellow pupils as a trustworthy contact person. They explain the opportunities and risks of media use and support their classmates in the responsible use of digital media.

To this end, the "MedienScoutZ" offer consultation hours in various forms. For example, they hold workshops and information events in which they provide information on topics such as cyberbullying, fake news and security settings on smartphones. The "MedienScoutZ" support experts (e.g. police) in teaching units and workshops.

The training of the "MedienScoutZ" is mainly organized by the personnel resources of the social pedagogues of the municipal child and youth support of the city of Salzgitter and the prevention officers for youth matters of the Salzgitter police. Supported by:

Topic media addiction: Awo Salto addiction support

Topic FakeNews: City library

The contact person at the Salzgitter/Peine/Wolfenbüttel police station is Claudia Kramer, Youth Prevention Officerclaudia.kramerpolizei.niedersachsende.

The contact person at the city of Salzgitter is André Greco, media educator in the children, youth and family departmentandre.grecostadt.salzgitterde.

Further information "MedienScoutZ":

In spring 2023, the Gottfried-Linke-Realschule presented its "MedienScoutZ" project. Eight young people were trained as "MedienScoutZ" to provide information about media at school and help other young people in the digital world with advice and support.

"MedienScoutZ" are pupils from Salzgitter who are committed to promoting responsible media use at their school. The project is organized and coordinated by the city of Salzgitter and the Salzgitter/Peine/Wolfenbüttel police department.

The "MedienScoutZ" are trained by extracurricular specialists from the city of Salzgitter (social education workers with a focus on media education from the municipal child and youth development department) and the Salzgitter/Peine/Wolfenbüttel police inspectorate (Salzgitter police officer for youth matters).

Teachers and school social workers from the respective schools accompany and support this process.

Experts from Salzgitter are available as speakers on various topics, such as employees of the city library on the topic of "FakeNews" or the AWO-Salto Suchthilfe Salzgitter counseling center on the topic of "media addiction". Other main topics of the training are important laws on the internet, data protection and social networks as well as smartphones and gaming. Materials are provided for self-training, workshops are organized and knowledge is imparted across schools. In addition, other external partners are invited to provide analog and digital training on specific topics.

Following the pilot project at Gottfried-Linke-Realschule, a training block was launched in mid-August 2023 with the three schools mentioned above at the City of Salzgitter's youth and education camp on Neuwerk Island. This framework was used to pool the resources of the instructors. The good networking of the "MedienScoutZ" should be mentioned here as a particular side effect. For the further work of the "MedienScoutZ", this is an important basis for exchange and mutual support.

The cooperation partners have agreed to continue this format next year.