On the occasion of Safer Internet Day, the LEGO Group announced a new partnership with the DQ Institute
On the occasion of the Safer Internet Day, the group LEGO has announced a new partnership with the DQ Institute, a world-leading expert organization on digital citizenship and children’s online safety. The partnership will see the two organizations work together to help children develop the skills they need to thrive in the digital world.
As a key part of the partnership, the LEGO Group has launched a new interactive learning experience, fun and safe, based on the DQ (Digital Intelligence) framework, pioneering activity of the DQ Institute. The experience was co-designed by the institute and the LEGO Group, to convey fundamental digital empathy skills to children at a time when, like never before, they are spending more time online.
LEGO and DQ Institute together for Safer Internet Day
The interactive experience is located on this site, and will help children explore the meaning of digital empathy and why it is so important, helping them to be aware, sensitive and supportive of their own and others’ feelings, but also needs and worries online. During this fun and accessible learning experience, the Minifigure LEGO will present children with a number of issues they may encounter in the digital world: cyberbullying scenarios, mob online and the dissemination of disinformation, explained in a simple and immediate way. Based on their responses, children will be rewarded with hero status of online empathy. The experiment makes the topic of digital empathy easy and accessible to understand.
Digital citizenship skills, including digital empathy, are very important for having positive experiences in the online world. Digital empathy is one of the fundamental skills of digital citizenship: in fact, it helps children understand how their online communication could impact others. IS It has been shown, thanks to DQI research, that children with high digital intelligence (DQ) scores are less likely to be involved in cyberbullying episodes or facing other types of cyber risks.
Due to the restrictions, children spend more time online, and this year’s Safer Internet Day is incredibly important in drawing attention to these issues, especially in light of the 45% of children aged 8-12 who report having been affected by cyberbullying in the past.
Together to promote the learning of digital empathy among children
Yuhyun Park, founder of the DQ Institute and international expert in digital skills and children’s online safety, says:
We and the LEGO Group share the hope that children can be good digital citizens, who can minimize cyber risks and maximize their potential in the digital world. This is why we are so excited to work with the LEGO Group, great experts in communicating with children. We hope that the playful experience we design together will help empower children to make the internet a better place for them in the future.
The LEGO Group is the first toy manufacturer to partner with the DQ Institute to promote the learning of digital empathy among children. The company worked closely with the DQI to create an experience in line with the DQ framework, the first global standard on digital literacy, digital skills and digital readiness (IEEE 3572.1-2020).
For example, each of the four new heroes of Safer Internet Day is closely related to the digital empathy skills that the DQ Institute recommends children to develop:
- Sir Hug-A-Lot, which embodies online empathy.
- Butterclops, which represents online self-awareness.
- AeroVision, designed to help children recognize other people’s point of view.
- Admiral Highfive, a character created to talk about kindness online.
Kathrine Kirk Muff, The LEGO Group’s VP of Social Responsibility, said:
Helping kids understand how to stay safe and be kind to others online has never been more important. We at the LEGO Group know that children learn best when they play and believe we are ideally placed to help them explore important topics such as digital empathy in a playful and engaging way. This new experience is just the beginning of our collaboration with the DQ Institute. Together we share the ambition to equip children, and parents too, with the knowledge, tools and skills needed to build a generation of responsible digital citizens.
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