To mark its twenty-fifth anniversary, Child Focus is filling the spheres of the Atomium on Thursday with workshops and educational games for sixth-grade children. As honorary president of the foundation, Queen Mathilde attended the ceremony.
Among other things, Child Focus organised an initiative around online safety for children, called Max 24/7. The aim of the game is to end up with a confidant, or a 'Max'.
"I have already given my password on a game to a friend who then bought gadgets for his avatar on my profile," said 12-year-old Jibril, highlighting one of the scenarios covered in the game. With this initiative, Child Focus aims to make sixth-grade children aware of dangers, both on the internet and beyond.
Equipping kids against grooming
The launch of that new campaign "Everyone a Max" hopes to encourage children to look for someone they can turn to with their problems. "If I need someone like that, I go to my parents," said Lore.
Child Focus was founded in 1998 in the wake of the Dutroux case, when the aim was to find missing children and prevent sexual exploitation, but the pupils of the community school Het Kompas are not as familiar with that story.
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Teacher Gil Pessemier is not surprised by this. "We were really born in the era of the Dutroux case. Our parents were constantly on their guard. For these children, that is all very far away and the dangers they have to watch out for are very different."
Therefore, Child Focus staff member Femke Gits is giving a course on grooming later in the day. "You notice that children don't know the word themselves, but recognise the phenomenon in stories. We teach them to recognise the situation so they can go to a trusted person with it."
