In this day and age of unprecedented internet activity, it is a breath of fresh air to have an advocacy that centers on helping children and perhaps adults as well, to understand what it means to be a responsible digital citizen. This is precisely what LEGO had in mind when it recently struck a partnership with DQ Institute – a leading think tank and advocacy group that promotes online safety and responsible digital skills.
Taking it a step further from its advocacy of using renewable and sustainable resources in its products, LEGO now sets its vision on helping children and their parents understand what it means to be digitally intelligent. DQ or Digital Intelligence includes building empathy towards others online to be aware, sensitive to, and supportive of one another in an ever-growing online community. And what better way to teach these life lessons is through the introduction of LEGO’s new online hero minifigures. These new characters are currently up over at LEGO’s Safer Internet Day minisite, teaching children several aspects of digital intelligence. The site begins with a quick quiz to help children and visitors know more about what type of online hero they are and presents them with scenarios where they can flex their DQ or digital intelligence. You will be guided throughout by Captain Safety and will be introduced to his team of online heroes.
Frankly, it will be nice if LEGO will eventually come up with physical counterparts of these new minifigure characters, and perhaps see a set or two dedicated to these LEGO DQ Institute characters:
Butterclops – a representation of online self-awareness.
AeroVision – designed to help children acknowledge the perspectives of other people
Admiral Highfive – a character created to talk about being kind online.
For more information about this new LEGO Group initiative, you may check out their official press release right here.
