Online safety practices for children

GEORGE TOWN: There is a need for safer online practices among young children as a large number of schoolchildren in Penang are not taking enough protective measures, reveals a survey on cyber safety in schools.
DiGi's CyberSAFE in School Programme manager Philip Ling said the survey, under the National Survey 2014: CyberSAFE in Schools report, showed about 40% of schoolchildren in Penang took minimal action to protect themselves online.
He said an average 70% of schoolchildren nationwide are not concerned with the invasion of their privacy or the anonymity of the people they interact with.
"With a population of over 261,400 students in Penang and the rapid growth of internet access, we also discovered that 27% of schoolchildren who participated in the survey have been bullied online at least once.
"We believe that it is important to strengthen our children's digital resilience towards online risks as well as empower adults to be able to intervene to create a safety net for children encountering negative experiences on the internet," he said. A total of 1,850 children from over 31 schools state-wide participated in the CyberSAFE in Schools workshops over a period of nine months.
The survey examined several dimensions of internet-related behaviour, which focused on online safety, cyber bullying, support network and personal concerns. – Bernama