Keeping children cyber-safe
The Malay Mail (16 Nov 2011)

LAUNCH OF DIGI CYBERSAFE PROGRAMME: Reaching out to more than 200 schools and educating students nationwide on the importance of cyber safety

KUALA LUMPUR: More than 5,000 students will get to learn about cyber safety via the DiGi "Cyber Security Awareness For Everyone" (CyberSAFE) programme.

Launched by the Education Ministry, DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, CyberSecurity Malaysia and Childline Malaysia at the Educational Technology Division in Bukit Kiara yesterday, the programme is a nationwide campaign aimed at raising grassroots awareness of child safety on the Internet.

The programme will consist of educational workshops conducted at 200 schools and DiGi community broadband centres, aiming to equip parents, teachers and more than 5,000 students with tools to enable a family-friendly Internet experience by September 2012.

The half-day workshops include talks and interactive sessions on identifying online risks and threats such as cyber-bullying, cyber-stalking, identity theft, child pornography and cyber-grooming; safety tips to children for chatting and social networking habits; parental guides for creating a safe computing environment, and awareness of Helpline assistance via phone and e-mail.

Roadshows and competitions will also be featured, assisted by non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Officiating the ceremony were Education Ministry deputy director-general Dr Khair Mohamad Yusof, Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) chairman Datuk Mohd Sharil Mohamed Tarmizi, DiGi chief executive officer Henrik Clausen and Childline chairman Sabri Rahman.

Also witnessing the event were 300 students from SK Bukit Damansara, SK Sri Hartamas, SK Bukit Bandaraya, SK TTDI 1, SK TTDI 2, SMK TTDI and SMK Sri Hartamas.

"The ministry's partnership with DiGi and CyberSecurity is a perfect example of how public and private sectors can come together to address key national issues," said Dr Khair, on behalf of Deputy Minister Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi who was unable to attend.

"The programme hopes to teach children critical-thinking skills that are useful when confronted with various risks."

Said Clausen: "As Internet accessibility increases both at home and school, we want to mobilise an online community that is aware of safety and privacy issues to protect themselves against possible online threats. We will focus on East Malaysia next January and will hopefully reach the rural community in due course."

This is critical, considering the increasing rate of cyber crimes among children, he added.

The partnership with Childline Malaysia also means children facing problems online have an avenue for help via 15999 Childline, a 24-hour children's telephone helpline launched November last year.

"We encourage children to protect themselves and realise there is someone to call for help when facing an unpleasant experience," said Childline Malaysia trustee Norwati Razak Sabri.

Since its inception, Childline has received approximately 5,200 calls requesting their assistance and hopes the programme will encourage children to be more forthcoming in regards to cyber-safety issues.

"Malaysian children spend an average of 19 hours on the Internet weekly," said CyberSecurity Malaysia CEO Prof Datuk Husin Jazri. "This, plus the fact that cyber security incidents reported to our Cyber999 Help Centre charted a 112 per cent increase from January to October this year compared to the same period in 2010, calls for an urgent need to put in place action plans to mitigate the situation."

DiGi and its programme partners have also released a guidebook for parents and caregivers on Internet safety methods for children, launched at the recent national Seminar on Child Online Protection by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry.

For CyberSAFE programme schedules and other information, log onto http://www.cybersafe.my/dcp.