Meet Magento Poland — support child safety online
By: Agnieszka Włodarczyk
Tags: Charity, Meet Magento, Cyber Bullying, Child Abuse, Ecommerce

Meet Magento Poland is an annual conference gathering specialists and enthusiasts in the eCommerce industry. It’s organized by SNOW.DOG, now for the ninth year in a row. As the biggest event of this type in Poland and East-Central Europe, the goal is to present all the latest developments and achievements in the field of online retail, exchange experiences, and obviously — network!

This year’s edition of the event will, however, be different than its predecessors. Namely, there will be a greater good at play.

Taking care of children

The current pandemic situation has highlighted the importance of helping each other out. That’s why we’ve decided to hold the event free of charge.

In lieu of a ticket price, we’re encouraging all ticket holders to donate to charity. All proceeds will go to The Empowering Children Foundation — Dajemy Dzieciom Siłę, an organization running a Kids’ Web Safety — Bezpieczne Dzieci w Sieci program aimed at making children aware of the dangers of the Internet. There are plenty of those lurking everywhere.

One of the most common forms of danger children can encounter on the Internet is cyber-bullying. It can take various forms, from being verbally abused on text chats (experienced by 32.2% children, according to a 2016 survey), badmouthing in comments (19.4% children), leaking private pictures or messages (12.4%), all the way to setting up fake accounts (12.6%) and blackmail (11.1%).

Kids affected by cyber-bullying are more prone to developing mental health issues and various forms of addiction, as well as experiencing difficulties with learning. In more extreme cases, it can even lead to suicide attempts.

The issue is that much more serious, as this kind of abuse is difficult to enforce with legal methods, despite the illegality of cyber-bullying. The Internet provides plenty of opportunities to hide one’s identity and remain anonymous — something bullies are keen on using. That’s why it’s important to raise awareness about cyber-bullying among children and young people. It can be as simple as having a chat with your child about hate speech. Most importantly, listen to them. By that, we not only mean offering support but also respecting their point of view and validating their experiences. The role of the parent or a guardian also needs to include educating the child about recognizing the danger and risks.

This last point is also very relevant when it comes to another form of online threats — dangerous materials. Pornography, violence, and hate — all of them are surprisingly easy to find on the Internet. It’s important to not just teach kids to recognize danger, but also to create a space where they feel it’s safe to speak up.

We can look to Instagram to show the overwhelming, impressionable power of the Internet. With the ability to edit pictures with filters and various digital enhancers, as well as with deceptive posing, these photographs can create both an unreal image and an unattainable ‘ideal’. Such a combination has a strong impact on children, especially in their adolescence, creating a sense of being not enough that can result in body dysmorphia or anorexia. To avoid it, or at least, diminish its disastrous effects, children need to be taught about how easy it is to create a completely unattainable body using photo processing tools. Secondly, and more crucially, kids have to be encouraged to just love themselves.

The Internet can be filled with dangers for children, but with your help, we can work on keeping them at bay!

Why did we get involved with Kids’ Web Safety? SNOW.DOG is a company that exists because of the Internet. We also contribute to the way the Internet looks and the directions, in which it’s headed. This is why, we genuinely feel the need to take responsibility for creating a better, safer web.

This important charity cause will also, hopefully, serve as a way to readjust our focus. The COVID pandemic had everyone talking about the struggles of remote work. It made it easy to forget about young people, who are exponentially proficient at using computers and mobile devices from an increasingly young age. These children and teenagers are also the most vulnerable and in need of support, and protection.

What’s new with Meet Magento Poland?

The biggest change to this year’s MM20PL is that it will be held fully online. With the grip of coronavirus not dying down, many areas of the business had to completely change the way they operate. From universities, through catering, and to live music (and that’s only listing a few!), the way we do things has changed, at least for the time being.

Being events that rely on human contact, conferences are also affected.

Organizing a whole event of this type was a challenge, but one we are confident will pay off. Online events are not a new thing, but ones such as conferences used to be organized in ‘real-life’. This year, because of the situation most of the world found itself in, there was no choice but to adapt. Don’t worry, though! You’ll still have a chance to listen to fascinating panels and talks, talk to sponsors, and get to know people from the eCommerce industry. Except, this time, you’ll get to do it from your own home!

We’re hoping that MM20PL will contribute to creating a blueprint of how such events should be organized. In a way, it reflects the ongoing trends in the retail industry, where the eCommerce branch is the fastest growing one.

With the online, 9th edition of Meet Magento Poland, we want to showcase the power of virtual spaces in, not only adapting to harsh realities but most importantly, making people’s lives easier.

Click to register.

See you there!