Warmest Season of "You Online" Responsible Influencers Club: How to Protect Kids and Teens from Online Threats While Maintaining Trust

The second season of the Responsible Influencers Club "You Online", an initiative run by A1, Belarusian Children's Fund, and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), has come to an end. Over the course of four meetings, more than 20 parent bloggers with the total subscriber base of 5+ million people, together with experts in psychology, pedagogics, and cybersecurity discussed the challenges of digital parenthood and ways of protecting children online.

"Mutual subscription", the concept of this year's event, became the symbol of sincerity and trust between kids and parents. Parents are the first influencers in a child's life, and the way they talk about safety, respect, and personal boundaries greatly affects the kid's behaviour online.

Over the course of four weeks, the Club members and experts worked out the rules of digital hygiene for the whole family. The discussions revealed that many parents are stressed over a constant online presence and feel the lack of knowledge and confidence in using specific protection tools, from "parental control" settings, to assistance services, to managing data privacy on social media.

"Maintaining balance between parental control and trust, discussing online security issues in an open and trusted way, and setting personal examples — all this lies at the core of digital parenthood, safety, and psychological comfort in a digital environment. The "You Online" club is a space where parents, teenagers, and bloggers work together to find solutions. Its goal is to make information technologies and the Internet space an instrument of a child's development, creative growth, and communication skills, instead of being a source of threats," says Olga Atroshchenko, Director of the UNFPA office in Belarus.

This season's club gatherings explored such topics as digital violence and ways to protect and support a child; safety and privacy of teen intimacy explained in a simple and delicate way; digital hygiene of a family and protection from scams, with life hacks that bloggers adopted as their must-haves.

Each meeting was held in the form of a dialogue, with real-life stories, unexpected insights, and ready-to-use expert tips in psychology and cybersecurity. "The most important conclusion of this season's meetings is this: when parents are willing to discuss challenging topics with their kids and make kids feel heard, an online environment ceases to be a threat and becomes a space filled with opportunities. Talking about digital safety must become an organic part of family culture, just as important as discussing school or health," points out Liudmila Kondrashova.

This season was more than just a series of meetings. It inspired the participants to create useful, honest, and easy-to-understand content on digital parenthood. Armed with knowledge and emotional support provided by the Club, many bloggers have pinned theme-related stories, video reviews, tips, checklists, and important topics for discussion on top of their social media pages.

This season's participants got certificates and became A1's ambassadors of responsible influence. All information materials are readily available on the project's website for all those willing to talk with their kids about a digital world in a sincere and easy way.