The organisation concludes the first phase of research in Gran Canaria within the Deusto ‘CyberResistance’ project.
The Opciónate Association has completed the first phase of the research carried out in two schools in Gran Canaria as part of the project ‘CyberResistance. Facing the third digital gender gap and cyber-violence in childhood: coeducation, opportunities and resistance’, promoted by the University of Deusto.
In this context, Opciónate is responsible for the elaboration of a study in four schools in Gran Canaria with the participation of primary school students, families and teachers. The work sessions have already been carried out in two of them, as planned, and from September the sessions will be completed in the remaining two.
The aim is to diagnose, analyse and prevent the aforementioned third digital divide that is occurring in the population between the ages of 6 and 12. In this sense, the debates and proposals on school and family coexistence with technology, advances, risks, measures and proposals have been of great interest for the objectives of this research work that aims to contribute to the construction of a healthier digital world.
The initiative led by the Basque university and with which Opciónate collaborates is funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of the Spanish Government within the framework of the 2022 Knowledge Generation Projects. The research will continue until 2026 with the development of its different phases, participation in academic meetings and the organisation of an international conference.
The study ‘Facing the third digital gender gap and cyber-violence in childhood: coeducation, opportunities and resistance’ arises from previous projects of the University of Deusto and Opciónate that support the need to continue researching this reality from an intersectional perspective. The feminist meaning of the third gender digital divide and male chauvinist cyber-violence encompasses different forms of aggression and harassment generated in digital environments, accentuated in the pandemic and post-pandemic.
The study is structured around three main phases, in which different methodologies are applied. The first consists of the organisation of thirty-nine working groups (twenty-seven in the Basque Country and twelve in Gran Canaria): thirteen discussion groups with children aged 6 to 12, nine of them in the Basque Country and four in Gran Canaria, as well as another thirteen with families and another thirteen with teachers, with the same geographical distribution.
The second phase, through the use of Participatory Action Research, carried out with educational agents (families and teachers), will propose an intervention and prevention of these realities. The third phase foresees an awareness-raising campaign and the creation of teaching materials. In addition, the work will allow for a comparative framework between the reality of the Basque Country and the Canary Islands, especially Gran Canaria, as the entire collaboration process will be carried out in both communities.
Likewise, dissemination conferences will be organised in the Basque Country and Gran Canaria and an International Conference will be held in the final year to disseminate the results of the project. The final conference will combine face-to-face and online participation to favour its international impact and the participation of renowned speakers.
Likewise, we will participate in International Congresses with posters, communications and papers to transfer knowledge and favour the exchange with experts in the field. The results of the project will also be shared at Science Fairs where the majority of the public is young people (for example, the Science Fair organised by Elhuyar in the Basque Country).
The H2020 Gearing-Roles project coordinated by the Deusto Social Values team and its associated projects will be channels for the dissemination of the project results, which will multiply the impact and international transfer of the project. Similarly, the approach to local and regional institutions in the Basque Country and the Canary Islands will be sought in order to disseminate the results of the research and promote the entry of the project’s conclusions into the public agenda.
