Espoo brings Someturva to general upper secondary schools to intervene in online bullying and harassment
Young people might experience bullying and harassment in social media, on message applications and on various gaming platforms. From the beginning of November 2023, the City of Espoo will provide general upper secondary school students with access to the Someturva service, which provides low-threshold assistance with unpleasant situations online. The service has been in use in basic education since autumn 2022.
The service is offered to all students, teaching staff and student welfare services.
“Someturva offers an excellent operating model for situations where young people are victims of online bullying. The introduction of Someturva is also a clear message that we will intervene in bullying. I believe that the introduction of Someturva will also increase general understanding of how people should behave in social media,“ says Tapio Erma, Director of Upper Secondary Education in Espoo.
Receiving help with the web application
Someturva offers assistance via a web application which requires the user to have a school-specific code. A student can log into the service and describe their situation based on questions presented in the application. After this, experts at Someturva will diagnose the situation and respond to the user within 1-3 days via the application. The student is notified of the response with a text message. The response includes an assessment of the situation and guidelines to resolve it.
The Someturva service is a Finnish innovation that also makes use of artificial intelligence. However, children, young people and adults are always answered by real people on the service.
Intervening in bullying and harassment on social media may require various tools and instructions. Via Someturva, students and staff of general upper secondary schools in Espoo will receive assistance from lawyers, social psychologists and a psychologist that specialise in social media. Someturva offers assistance in Finnish, Swedish and English.
The school-specific codes are distributed to upper secondary school students and guardians of minor students through Wilma. Students receive instructions to using Someturva during group tutoring classes.
More information on Someturva We protect you on social media. | Someturva(external link, opens in a new window)