We are happy to announce the Multiplier Event of CB4PARENTS project which took place in the Universidade Lusófona Porto, Portugal. The invitation to the event was disseminated via three channels of University’s social media accounts. Forty-two participants attended the event, with different profiles: students of psychology, education sciences, and child welfare, and school teachers, NGO professionals, and parents. The majority of the participants were students and professionals in psychology and education fields. The event was organised in a modular structure. Each presentation was delivered in 25 minutes and each presentation was followed by a Q&A moment. Welcoming the participants and mainly presenting CB4parents goals, curricula, and e-learning platform was presented by Dr. Inês Jongenelen and Dr. Diogo Lamela. The following presentations addressed the definitions of cyberbullying, types of cyberbullying, and strategies to identify and prevent cyberbullying against children and adolescents by Drs. Raquel Costa (Public Health Institute, University of Porto) and Tiago Pinto (Lusófona University). The other presentations addressed the developmental issues related to the use of technologies by children and adolescents and the social underlying processes of cyberbullying and its consequences. The last presentations were about the secure internet and the hotline to support victims of cyberviolence and cybercrime and the strategies to promote media literacy in school settings and also presented the current national projects dedicated to promoting media literacy as a tool to prevent cyberbullying. A final debate with an integrative Q&A moment was delivered before the event’s evaluation and closing. The agenda was designed considering the main contents addressed by the CB4parents curricula and also aimed to present current projects developed by key public institutions in Portugal to promote media literacy, and prevent and combat cyberbullying.
Conclusions and recommendations
Several essential discussions were raised during the event during the Q&A moments pertaining to the links between cyberbullying and other forms of violence against children, the legal steps to support children and adolescents who are victims of cyberbullying, the protective impact of family relations in reducing the detrimental consequences of cyberbullying, and how to build community-based alliances to prevent and combat cyberbullying. Participants suggested future events dedicated to the training of effective strategies to interact with parents in the prevention of cyberbullying.
Feedback on Common Curriculum
The participants highlighted the pertinence of the curriculum. They argued that the clear science-based definition of the different types of cyberbullying, as well as its consequences, is very informative. The participants also highlighted the quality of the learning sequential approach adopted by the common curriculum: concepts and definitions, signs and monitoring and prevention. The developmental-ecological approach used to frame the curriculum was also praised by the participants as providing a useful conceptual map to understand the individual, family and community dynamics of cyberbullying.
Feedback on Digital Training Materials
The participants highlighted the quality of the materials, in terms of aesthetics and organisation. The animated presentations and videos were considered as a strong asset as they are more reachable to different types of parents (with different educational backgrounds) and also increases participants’ concentration and motivation. Participants also highlighted that the inclusion of different active learning activities will increase parents’ adhesion and interest in the contents. The quizzes for assessment were also pointed out by some participants as valuable as it allows qualitative feedback.
Feedback on e-Learning Portal
The e-Learning Portal was also presented. The participants commented that the Portal seemed very user-friendly, and the contents were well-organised. Some participants highlighted that e-Learning Portal’s software is the same used in other e-Learning platforms, which facilitates its use.
Evaluation of the multiplier event
The event evaluation form contemplated both quantitative and qualitative questions. Participants were asked to rate (on a scale from 1 to 5) their satisfaction with several aspects of the event’s organisation. Then participants were also asked to provide qualitative feedback about the event and future events. 42 evaluation forms were received. In the qualitative evaluation, participants suggested that it would be beneficial to have more real cases study of children and adolescents who were victims of cyberbullying, more time devoted to a deeper discussion of concepts and definitions of cyberbullying, and also an even more specialised discussion on effective strategies to prevent cyberbullying.
