Like in the rest of the word, the international Safer Internet Day will be marked in Bulgaria on 9 February 2016 for the 13th consecutive time. As originally proposed by the European Commission, every second Tuesday of every second month each year public attention is drawn towards safer and more responsible ways for children and young people to use Internet and mobile devices.
More than 20 schools from across Bulgaria have officially registered their own events for the Safer Internet Day 2016. The two main events will take place in Sofia:
• A press conference will be held at 11:00 in the Press Club of the Bulgarian News Agency. Experts from the Bulgarian Safer Internet Centre, as well as lecturers and students from the Faculty of Preschool and Primary School Education at the Sofia University, will present findings from several studies on the use of Internet and mobile devices by the youngest children (0-8 years old) and the associated risks. Students from the programme Pedagogy of Mass and Artistic Communication will inform the audience about the results of the survey conducted among the students. The survey examined their views about the risks children are exposed to online, and about the role of parents and teachers for developing the media and digital literacy of the youngest Internet users.
• The second part of the day will be dedicated to the Conference on the Internet of the Future with the title “Dos and Don’ts… For a Few Likes More.” Over 70 pupils aged 12-18 from Sofia and other Bulgarian towns, teachers, famous vloggers, and experts from state institutions and private IT sector will discuss the tendencies in the development and use of Internet in the recent past and today. They will try to outline the paths for affirmation of more positive aspects of the online life of Internet users, and make recommendations for minimizing the negative influences.
In the beginning of the conference, 21 pupils from schools from Popovo, Smolyan and Vidin will receive awards for their activity as Cyberscouts – active young people helping and advising their peers how to avoid online threats. The three groups of pupils have won the first three places in the national contest among the Cyberscout units from five Bulgarian regions. The awarding ceremony represents the closing part of the Cyberscout programme, implemented in 2015 by the Safer Internet Centre in partnership with Telenor Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior. The 
winners of the contest will receive their prizes from Telenor and the companies – members of the Bulgarian Association of Information Technologies in the framework of the European Programme eSkills for Jobs. On 8 February, Telenor Bulgaria and Safer Internet Centre will sign a contract for continuation of the successful Cyberscout initiative. In 2016, additional six Bulgarian regions will be covered.
A joint initiative of the Safer Internet Centre and Microsoft Bulgaria will also be announced at the conference. The aim is to raise the awareness and knowledge of parents regarding the online risks for children and the ways to avoid them.
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The Safer Internet Day 2015 was marked in 110 countries from all continents. In the EU member-states, the associated events and campaigns are organised and coordinated by the national Safer Internet Centres – members of the European Network of Safer Internet Centres Insafe.
