The webinar guests discussed whether the paper format of a book is still relevant for today’s children and whether it can be combined with digital tools.

On July 24, the 19th webinar of the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ was held at the VK community’s Safe Childhood Information Environment. The topic of the meeting was “Not an App, but a Book: Why Do Children Need Poems about Digital Safety.” The star of the webinar was the activity book for children “Digital Footprint”, which is part of the Coordination Center’s educational project “Study the Internet — Govern It”: in poetic form, the book explains the basic rules of internet safety.

All webinars in the series are held with the information support of the domain .ДЕТИ (dot children in English).

Among the webinar guests were Nadezhda Kuznetsova, a children’s poet and writer, author of the poems for the book “Digital Footprint,” and Anna Alpatova, a pedagogical psychologist at St. George’s School in Moscow. Together with the publication’s editor and head of social projects at the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ, Victoria Bunchuk, the experts discussed how much demand there is for the paper format in working with modern children and how it can be harmoniously combined with digital educational tools.

The discussion focused on the effectiveness of the poetic form for conveying digital safety rules. Nadezhda Kuznetsova emphasized that this approach allows avoiding the imposition of ready-made instructions and instead encourages children’s independent thinking: “In a poem, we don’t give a specific instruction — we provide a direction for thought that encourages the child to reflect and draw conclusions. Rhyme and imagery make the complex simple, and the rules are not dry prescriptions but part of an engaging story. As a result, poems allow us to present the rules not as didactic prohibitions but through play and imagery, which children perceive much better.”

A distinctive feature of the publication is the combination of poetic form, a traditional medium, and interactivity: the book includes stickers, tasks, and pages adapted for writing and drawing.

Anna Alpatova highlighted the psychological and pedagogical advantages of the format. The expert noted the stabilizing and therapeutic role of a paper book in the context of information overload: “A book is an island of stability and predictability: the words and sentences stay in their places; they can be reread as many times as needed, and they don’t change. In the digital environment, a child’s psyche is constantly forced to switch and react to intrusive signals, whereas a book, on the contrary, gives the opportunity to pause, read carefully, and reflect. The effect of shared reading is especially important: when a close adult reads the book aloud, the child feels safe, and information is absorbed in the most comfortable setting. It is in this calm, stable environment that it is easier for a child to explore the world and consolidate new knowledge.”

Anna also spoke about the cognitive mechanisms that make poetry an effective learning tool. “Rhyme and the rhythmically predictable structure of lines reduce cognitive load: it’s easier for the brain to complete a phrase and anticipate the end of a line. This is the effect of cognitive ease — it helps information to be absorbed faster and retained more reliably. Moreover, in a stressful situation, when thought processes naturally slow down, rhymed lines can serve as a support: the child will remember the familiar rhythm and be able to orient themselves even in a tense situation,” the expert explained.

The authors and experts offered practical ways to work with the book. Nadezhda Kuznetsova recommended family reading followed by discussion: “You can read the poem line by line, with one line per family member, and then analyze the described situation together, suggesting your own options for action. This way, the poem becomes a reason for a lively dialogue, and safety rules become part of a shared conversation rather than a boring list of prohibitions.”

For her part, Anna Alpatova suggested using the method of spaced repetition to ensure solid knowledge retention: “The material should be reviewed at increasing intervals — first after one day, then after three days, then after a week, then after a month, and so on. This approach helps turn the necessary actions into automatic habits, so that in a real situation the child can act confidently and correctly.”

The webinar demonstrated a high level of interest in practical and accessible tools for building children’s digital literacy. The book “Digital Footprint” is positioned not just as a literary publication but as a methodological resource for parents and educators: it can help build a trusting dialogue about digital risks and foster conscious and safe online behavior in children.

In the future, it is planned to expand the range of materials, including developing publications for the youngest readers, as well as holding additional educational events aimed at adults to help them find the right words to talk to children about safety in the digital environment.

Recordings of all meetings at the Safe Childhood Information Environment are available in the official VK community of the dot ДЕТИ.