It's always nice to do a quick "Fiscal year in review" as we kick-start the new Fiscal Year 11. FY10 was a productive year for family online safety awareness in Lebanon.
The internet and the wealth of opportunities it offers in terms of communication, information, knowledge, social networking and trans-global transactions continues to expand exponentially, carrying with it equal measures of risks for the internet’s highest users: children. As the children explore this information highway, there are concerns over potentially inappropriate material, which range from content through to contact and conduct of and with children in the digital world. The need for a safe and responsible online experience for Lebanese children is growing as more and more young people in Lebanon continue to integrate technology in their lives.
During the past fiscal year, Think Community made significant progress on raising awareness for family online safety, launching the Family Online Safety ‘Training the Trainer’ campaign in partnership with Microsoft-Lebanon to promote best practices, tools and methods in the field of family online safety.
The campaign included a one-day workshop designed to provide social workers and experts with skills and knowledge that relate to family online safety, as they set out to spread this knowledge among the communities they work in. The training campaign intended to provide a comprehensive insight into the challenges that children face online and the means that offer them a safe online experience. As such, the workshops were designed to be hands-on, with each session pushing participants to challenge their way of thinking about the internet, dispelling myths, and providing practical safeguards.
The training campaign kick-started at the Azm and Saade Association academic training center in Tripoli, north of Lebanon, and concluded with 2 training sessions at the Family Online Safety Conference 2010, Radisson Blu Hotel, Beirut. Interestingly, each session was attended by more than 20 participants who came from several organizations. The workshops were divided into 2 sessions, session 1 addressing ‘Risks by interaction’, focusing on the need for a culture of responsibility away from fear-based techno-panic; and session 2 dealing with ‘Risks by technology’. Each session was designed so that it would serve as model that the trainers can follow when they go to train or present online safety methods and tools to parents and children.
The sessions employed various participatory and active learning techniques, drawing the participants into the heart of the issue, and linking the content to their own experiences. Session 2 was additionally supplemented by an interactive live demonstration of Microsoft’s parental controls, Security Essentials, and other resources.
A useful manual was given to the participants, which contained a compilation of relevant material to guide instructional patterns and informative tools to help participants build awareness on family online safety.
At the end of the day, the final Q & A session was designed to make sure that the participants were equipped with all necessary information and tools to deliver the workshop in the best way possible.
The discussions and outcomes of the interactive sessions illustrated the relevance of this campaign, and the potential for adapting issues to the Lebanese context. 
In FY-10, Think Community also participated in several conferences and forums such as the WIT Networking & Sustainability Conference 2010 and the Arab day for Cyber Security 2010 to name few. These events aimed at raising awareness on the challenges facing parents, teachers, the children in today’s digital world.
As we enter a new fiscal year FY-11, we are completely committed to helping local communities and families build a culture of responsibility.