๐ฒ๐ฏ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฆ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐น ๐น๐ถ๐๐๐น๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ป๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ด๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑโ๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐๐.
If, like me, you work on online child safety, then the figures from the recent Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) survey (link in the comments) wouldnโt surprise you.
But like me, I hope they worry you. Especially if you are a fellow parent.
In the 7 years since we started our cyber parenting and cyber safety programmes, the digital landscape has only grown more complex. Covid-19 and GenAI have precipitated technology use to levels far beyond what is healthy or recommended for young people. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ ๐ถ๐ฑ.
What started in 2018 as an effort to keep my tween safe online, grew into a core part of our
Cyber awareness work. In the beginning, it wasnโt easy, despite my academic expertise – so I wanted to make the journey easier for other parents.
Cyber awareness is a regular part of my family routine. Yes, I don’t always get it right, but my teens and I communicate and calibrate as we go along. That is, after all, what parenting is about – being prepared to learn from our mistakes and do what is best for our child, including the difficult parts.
Parents are overwhelmed. I understand this all too well. Yet, it is our primary responsibility to keep our kids safe – especially in online spaces in increasingly digital societies.
The government, private sector, schools, and community organisations all play a role, providing support and ample resources. My experience shows that in age of information overload ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐-๐ผ๐ป ๐ด๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐. In our sessions, we discuss the basics of parenting – amid all the chaos of the digital, parenting basics sometimes are forgotten. ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ in the digital age.
My partner organisations and I invite ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ฑ and empower themselves to keep their families safer online. Together, we can make the internet a safer and kinder place for our children ๐ช๐
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