Before we start, it could be a good idea to take a look at the Glossary below, explaining some of the terms that are used in important parts of the Guide.
A
Active Listening/Empathic Active Listening: Active Listening/Empathic Active Listening involves a set of verbal and non-verbal skills that are crucial for effective interpersonal Communication. Some well-known Active Listening practices and techniques include a) providing empathetic annotations, b) asking productive questions, and c) paraphrasing the speaker’s comments to show attention and confirm understanding.
B
Bibliotherapy: Bibliotherapy is a creative psychotherapy that involves the narration and/or reading of specific texts and books. It uses the individual’s relationship with the content of books and poetry, as well as other written texts, as a psychotherapeutic method. Bibliotherapy is often combined with therapy through writing. However, it should not be confused with creative arts psychotherapy[1] .
Bro/Sis: Used in the context of Gen-Z popular vocabulary. It means “friend” or “buddy”.
C
Cheugy: Used in the context of Gen-Z popular vocabulary. It means “uncool, trying too hard to be cool” and it is an insulting term used in Hate Speech.
Communication: Communication is the process of transmitting information and achieving shared understanding between individuals.
Cyberbullying: Cyberbullying refers to the repetitive and prolonged use of digital Communication methods to deliberately target and harm another individual who is unable to defend themselves. Types of Cyberbullying include sending offensive messages, emails, or direct messages with malicious content; maliciously sharing photos or messages to harass others; spreading rumours and false information; making anonymous calls and messages; creating websites with defamatory material and sharing photos; and exclusion from groups. Special characteristics of Cyberbullying include the rapid spread of rumours and comments, the anonymity of the harasser, the difficulty in tracing electronic traces without specialised knowledge, and the lack of control for the victim, as Cyberbullying isn’t limited to a specific location or time period (unlike, for example, in-school bullying).
E
Empathy: Empathy is the ability to understand another person’s experiences from their perspective. In simpler terms, it’s the capacity to “put oneself in another’s shoes.”
F
FoMO (Fear of Missing Out) Syndrome: Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) Syndrome is the feeling of tension, anxiety, and emptiness that arises when an individual is deprived of staying updated on other people’s lives, events, and situations outside of their own life, due to a desire to be constantly informed.
Fire: Used in the context of Gen-Z popular vocabulary. It means “cool”, “awesome”, or “great”.
Flex: Used in the context of Gen-Z popular vocabulary. It means “showing off to others”.
G
GOAT: Used in the context of Gen-Z popular vocabulary. It means “greatest of all time”.
Grooming: Grooming is a subset of cybersexploitation, which may or may not involve explicit conversations of a sexual nature, or indeed online enactment of fantasies but still falls under the umbrella of cybersexploitation because the intention is to sexually abuse a child in the real world, but one of the points of contact occurs in cyberspace. Grooming, which has been defined in the proposed “anti-Grooming legislation” announced in the November 2022. Protecting the Public White Paper refers to the following: “A course of conduct enacted by a suspected paedophile, which would give a reasonable person cause for concern that any meeting with a child arising from the conduct would be for unlawful purposes”[2]
H
Hate Speech: “Hate Speech” refers to offensive discourse targeting a group or an individual based on inherent characteristics (such as race, religion or gender) and that may threaten social peace.
I
Internet Addiction Disorder: Internet Addiction Disorder is characterised by compulsive and problematic internet use that can negatively affect cognitive functions, social skills, sleep, and other aspects of one’s life. Although not officially recognised as a disorder, previous studies have identified subtypes such as Internet Gaming Disorder, cybersex addiction, and Internet gambling disorder. Specific types of internet addiction include addictive cybersex, cyber addiction in relationships, addiction to online gaming, addictive web use or information overload, and computer addiction.
Internet Gaming Disorder: Internet Gaming Disorder was included in the appendix of the DSM-5 by the American Psychiatric Association. The DSM-5 presents diagnostic criteria, including preoccupation with gaming, experiencing negative symptoms when gaming is restricted, tolerance, unsuccessful control attempts, loss of interest in other activities, continued excessive use despite problems, deception, using games to escape negative moods, and jeopardising relationships or opportunities due to gaming.
Internet Risks: Children using the internet might encounter risks related to the content they see, the Communication they engage in, and their online behaviour, including exposure to inappropriate content, Cyberbullying, Grooming, Phishing, Sexting, Sextortion, and negative interactions.
M
Mid: Used in the context of Gen-Z popular vocabulary. It means “average” or “mediocre” and it is an insulting term used in Hate Speech.
N
No cap: Used in the context of Gen-Z popular vocabulary. It means “for real”.
Non-Verbal Communication: Non-Verbal Communication encompasses all forms of Communication other than words, including body language, gestures, facial expressions, and tone of voice.
P
Phishing: Phishing is a network type attack where the attacker creates the fake of an existing webpage to fool an online user into elicit personal information. Phishing is the combination of social engineering and technical methods to convince the user to reveal their personal data. It is typically carried out by Email spoofing or instant messaging. It targets the user who has no knowledge about social engineering attacks, and internet security like persons who do not take care of privacy of their accounts details (such as Facebook, Gmail, credit banks accounts and other financial accounts)[3]
S
Salty: Used in the context of Gen-Z popular vocabulary. It means “angry”.
Sexting: Sexting is the sending and receiving of sexually explicit text messages or media (photos, videos, audio messages). The images are often initially sent to romantic partners or interests but can find their way into hands of others, which ultimately is what creates the problems. While the public is most concerned about these behaviours as they occur among adolescents, there is evidence that many adults are participating as well[4].
Sextortion: Sextortion involves a request – whether explicit or implicit- to engage in sexual activity. It need not involve sexual intercourse or even physical touching, but could be any form of unwanted sexual activity, such as exposing private body parts or posing for sexual photographs[5].
Squad: Used in the context of Gen-Z popular vocabulary. It means “group of friends”.
Slay: Used in the context of Gen-Z popular vocabulary. It means “to do something really well”.
V
Verbal Communication: Verbal Communication is the aspect of Communication expressed through spoken or written words.