Families, teachers, and students came together at Nermin Metin Akar Lower Secondary School to celebrate Parents’ Day and explore how cooperation between schools and families can help children grow into responsible, empathetic, and active digital citizens.

Organised as part of the Council of Europe Visibility Week, the event highlighted the importance of cooperation between schools, families, and institutions in promoting digital citizenship values across all age groups.

The event was attended by Mr William Massolin, Head of the Council of Europe Programme Office in Ankara, Mr Şemşettin Durmuş, Deputy Director General of Basic Education of the Ministry of National Education, Provincial and District level Directors of the Ministry, as well as officials from the Council of Europe, General Directorate of Basic Education (TEGM) and General Directorate of Innovation and Educational Technologies (YEĞİTEK), and an expert involved in developing project material.

Throughout the day, parents and students explored innovative learning materials and took part in interactive sessions. Teachers led presentations on Digital Citizenship Education (DCE) and showcased activities previously implemented in classrooms, such as Empathy Roleplay, Family Contract, and Black and White World. Students also presented thematic corners developed in earlier sessions, including the Inclusive Corner, Empathy with Poetry, Digital Detox Corner, and Digital Footprint Examination Area.

In the afternoon, 20 parents and 20 students joined a collaborative activity based on the project’s materials. Most notably, project’s biggest output, “DCE Web-Based Video Game” was piloted with the students for the first time and received positive reactions from the students.

The Parents’ Day event once again demonstrated the shared commitment of teachers, families, and students to fostering safer, responsible, and empathetic digital habits for a better digital future

The action “Digital Citizenship Education in Türkiye” is part of the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye.”