Spain's Civil Guard uses superheroes to educate kids on Internet risks

Using the popular and enigmatic characters from the movie world of superheroes, along with quite a few Disney characters, the Civil Guard in Spain has begun a new set of workshops in Madrid aimed at informing third and fourth grade children about the dangers of the Internet.

Using a giant TV screen, the first class was held on November 5 at the Nuestra Señora del Carmen school in Madrid.  It began with the words, “You should never give your personal details online without the permission of your parents, or create a profile on the social networks until you reach 14.”

Children tend to be trusting and it is far too easy for the wrong people to take advantage of them online.  All the pupils in the class were familiar with the various apps, like WhatsApp, Skype and YouTube, but most were completely unaware of the basic rules and etiquette of using the Internet and the various social networks.  This was the first of around 6,000 more classes to be held all over Spain during the coming months. 

Arsenio Fernández de Mesa, director general of the Civil Guard told the assembled children, “I bet the majority of you have better smartphones and tablets than your parents, but you still need to be careful,” adding, “There are bad people out there who will try to get to know you through the internet. What we’re about to tell you is so that from now on you will use it properly and nobody will be able to hurt you.”

On the TV screen, the Hulk warns the children,  “It is forbidden to pretend to be somebody else, or record somebody on your phone without their permission and then upload it to the Internet.”

In the classroom, Captain Carlos Igual of the division that investigates crimes against minors is on hand to advise the children.  He told El País, “A teenager is old enough to understand a serious message about online safety, but younger children aren’t.”

“Cartoons are a way to get that message over in a friendly manner, and to help them interiorize what we are trying to say,” he added, explaining that some parents are unaware of how the Internet functions and exactly what their children do online.

Igual said that most parents, and even many teachers, don't really know what Twitter is, for example. While some teachers have already contacted the Civil Guard requesting talks on online safety, the Civil Guard will also be organizing workshops for parents and teachers on the subject, but without the help of the Hulk this time.


Spanish sources:

El País
20 Minutos

Photo credits:
Hulk: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic Eneas De Troya
The Civil Guard detains a man for pedophile evidence on mobile phone

Spanish father found guilty of murdering his two young children

On October 8, 2011, two children, six-year-old Ruth and two-year-old José "disappeared" while visiting a park with their father, José Bretón, who claimed that he had merely lost the children. Investigations proved a different story indeed. 

Bretón, the father of the two children, was born in Córdoba in 1973, and was an unemployed former army driver.

 

He was always the main suspect in a case that had the police searching for their bodies for months, using both trained dogs and also ground-penetrating radar. 

 

 While the children were never found, investigators did eventually find the remains of a large bonfire on the estate owned by Bretón's parents outside the southern Spanish city of Córdoba. The bonfire was so hot it destroyed DNA evidence, but teeth were found in the ashes, which were later identified by forensic experts as belonging to two children, aged two and six years respectively.

 

Bretón was arrested 10 days after reporting the children missing and has been in jail ever since.

 

In previous court appearances, Bretón denied all charges and told officers imperiously, "You have nothing on me."

 

Finally justice has been served in the case, as on Friday a jury has unanimously found José Bretón guilty of murdering his two small children and burning their bodies to cover up the crime. A jury of two men and seven women delivered the verdict this week, after hearing all the facts surrounding the disappearance of the two children.

 

While Bretón remained cool during the court trial, and always claimed that he simply lost his children, the prosecution presented a case that he killed the children as revenge against his wife, who had recently asked him for a divorce.

 

Psychologists describe Bretón as "extremely cold and detached," and police officers who had interrogated the man also remarked on his apparent lack of concern about his own children and also his harsh verbal attacks against his wife, Ruth Ortiz.

 

Reports from the psychologists described Bretón as "highly intelligent," with an IQ of 121 and that he showed "signs of being excessively manipulative" and was "exceptionally clear minded."

 

He had apparently told the police, "Outside I'm a nobody, but at home I'm the boss."

 

144 expert witnesses at the trial corroborated that Bretón had purchased the sedatives Orfidal and Motiván to put his children to sleep.

 

Proof was also shown that he bought large amounts of diesel fuel to incinerate their bodies at Las Quemadillas, his parents' Córdoba estate. It was from that estate that Bretón made one last phone call to his wife, who did not pick up the call, before going ahead with his dreadful plan.

 

As can be seen in the video (original article), Bretón listened totally impassively as the judge pronounced his guilt and is now awaiting sentencing. Both the public and private prosecutors are asking for a 40-year sentence.

To the source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/354344