Fundacion Mapfre have launched a new campaign aimed at raising awareness about internet addiction among school children.

The project targets secondary school students across Malta and Gozo. A total of 160 workshops will be hosted by trained coordinators.

Each workshop will be streamed live into a classroom via interactive whiteboard technology, to give students a fun and interactive lesson on healthy interaction with the online world.

As a conversation starter, the workshops use a short comical film written by Jon Mallia and directed by Abigail Mallia featuring popular actors Thomas Camilleri and James Ryder. The film covers the many issues that arise from internet addiction and the social isolation that is borne of this problem. It encourages teens to examine their options for socialising and entertainment beyond the allures of the virtual world.

The creative team behind the project has fostered the principle that some of the best lessons are those learnt over laughter, and this belief is what inspires this style of education.

Fundacion Mapfre has commissioned sociologist and community-based education expert Maria Brown who crafted the workshop as informed by recent research about problematic internet use overseas and in Malta, particularly the 2017 study by the National Centre for Freedom from Addictions of the President’s Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society.

Fundacion Mapfre is represented in Malta by Mapfre Middlesea and Mapfre MSV Life. In the past seven years the foundation has been exceedingly active in supporting important social causes in Malta through both finance and resources. Inspire, Equal Partners Foundation, Street Smart and Caqlaq among others are all beneficiaries of Fundacion Mapfre. 

School administrations wishing for their students to be part of this campaign can contact project coordinator Matthew Randon on MatthewRandon@gmail.com for further information.