In a lower secondary school in Kuşadası, a quiet classroom filled with coloured papers and soft conversation marked a meaningful moment for a mother and her young daughter. They were taking part in an activity under the ‘Pilot Project on Digital Citizenship Education in Türkiye’, which supports schools and families in helping children understand the digital world not only as a place of information and entertainment, but also as a space that requires empathy, responsibility, and awareness.

For the mother, the workshop became more than a school event, it became a moment of connection. “Our children are growing up in the digital world but we didn’t,” she said. “We try to guide them, but we don’t always know how. This workshop gave me confidence. It helped us understand each other better.”

The project encourages learning through shared activities rather than lectures. Parents and children sit side by side, discussing online habits, emotions, and digital experiences.

During one of these activities, the children were invited to share something they had created. Her daughter stood up to read a poem she had written herself. “I always thought she was shy,” the mother reflected. “But her voice was steady and strong. I saw something I hadn’t noticed before. This workshop didn’t only teach her, it taught me something about her.”

Her daughter described the day with a bright smile: “The activity was fun. We played, we learned, and I understood what digital citizenship means. I’m glad it was organised.”

By involving families directly, the project strengthens communication at home and reinforces that digital guidance is not about restriction, but partnership. It helps parents feel supported, children feel understood, and schools become shared spaces of learning rather than separate worlds.

As part of the pilot phase, activities took place in 14 schools across 7 provinces, reaching school communities of around 8,718 students and 592 teachers. Through the workshops, approximately 793 students, 400 parents, and 35 teachers were directly engaged. Each visit created meaningful moments of shared reflection and understanding among children, parents, and teachers.

In Kuşadası, this shared moment between a mother and her daughter captured exactly that: learning together, understanding together, growing together.

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