No_Hate_Story

No_Hate_Story

It is undeniable that the Internet has changed the way young people communicate and interact in social and societal relationships. In general, the internet facilitates communication between individuals and various groups in the public sphere, strengthens global activism, and cross-border cooperation. Despite many positives, however, the internet, especially social networks, serves not only as a space for sharing useful information but also as a space for spreading anger and hatred. Statistics show that hateful content spreads fastest on the internet among young people.

#No Hate Story responded to this problem with the aim of alerting young people to the dangers and consequences associated with the spread of hateful content on the internet. Through non-formal education and experiential learning, we explored various forms of hate speech, discussed appropriate reactions, and the effectiveness of reporting inappropriate content on selected social networks. We used digital storytelling and working with hashtags as tools to reach young people who are at risk of developing radical and hateful attitudes, introduced them to the problems of marginalized groups, and supported the building of understanding and tolerance.

31 young people from the Poprad Business Academy participated in the training. Over six hours, we explored how they perceive hate speech on the internet, how their daily online activity looks, and what pitfalls and dangers they reflect on. Through digital storytelling, the participants then proposed recommendations to their peers on how to defend themselves against these pitfalls.

From all the outputs, we select the following:

If you use the SNAPCHAT application – be careful – the user automatically – by default – shares their location with their contacts. The solution is simple – just one click in the settings and you can turn off location sharing.

Always be careful whether the photo or post you share is in private mode or public – otherwise, people might be able to find you by name.

Also, always use the “GRANDMA” rule – I only publish posts that I’m OK showing to my grandma..

Never leave your smartphone unlocked and unattended – setting automatic screen lock is super easy and you’ll avoid serious embarrassments.

Participant quotes:

“I liked that we actually learned something… something we’ll actually use…”

“It was great that we had the opportunity to express our opinions, that you didn’t lecture us, but we figured it out ourselves…”

“I liked the teamwork in the group and that we got to know our classmates better”

“I learned a lot about my classmates, I had no idea about some of those things on the internet”

The No_Hate_Story training was implemented as part of the Meet and Code initiative and European Coding Week
#CodeWeek #meetandcode #SAP4good #youthfullyyourssk