In an effort to promote the “safe use of the internet” and “fight cyberbullying”, the Walt Disney Company Portugal and GNR police have joined forces to carry out thousands of school presentations across the country.
The protocol was signed last week and allows Disney characters from shows such as Violetta, The Avengers, Phineas and Ferb and the Penguin Club to be used in the presentations, which will focus on the dangers that children face when using the internet, especially on social networks.
The initiative will include visits to 5,460 Portuguese schools, targeting around 707,000 students aged between six and 14.
“With this programme, we aim to avoid problems like cyberbullying and dating violence. And to do so, there’s nothing better than using Disney characters that the kids already know,” GNR spokesperson Bruno Marques told Público newspaper.
Similar interventions have been carried out as part of the Escola Segura programme, but it is hoped that this partnership with Disney will make them all the more interesting for children.
It was Disney who approached GNR with the idea after successfully leading a similar project in Spain.
“It will be more fun and thus the messages that we want to pass onto children have a bigger impact,” Marques explained.
Público adds that some Disney TV shows have already warned their viewers about the dangers of the internet.
“Be careful of what you put online as it never goes away” or “if you wouldn’t do it in person, don’t do it online” are examples of the advice that characters on the Phineas and Ferb show have passed onto their young audience.
