Dr. Hessa Al Jaber Addresses Cyber Safety
By Dr. Hessa Al Jaber
Secretary General, ictQATAR
Today, as countries all over the world mark World Telecommunications and Information Society Day, we marvel at how the telecommunications industry has rapidly evolved from telegraphing to tweeting. The theme for this year, Protecting Children in Cyberspace, reminds of how changes in telecommunications has not only has brought tremendous benefits, but also requires us to be vigilant in ensuring new technologies are used for good.
The Internet offers remarkable benefits to adults and children who can use online resources to boost school performance, expand learning, become familiar with other cultures, and maintain a network of acquaintances around the world. Evidence exists that children's effective use of the Internet leads to student success, and ultimately, professional success.
But for all the opportunities on the Internet to help children soar, personally and scholastically, online dangers abound. Strangers, pretending to be someone else can communicate with children. Unsolicited email - spam - about websites with sexually explicit material can arrive in email inboxes. Requests for personal information for contests or surveys can be used in unauthorized ways. Cyberbullying -intimidating, frightening, or threatening texts or emails sent to children —seems to be increasing. And countless easily accessed websites and chat rooms are filled with detailed information on extreme, vulgar, bigoted, and violent activities.
Protecting children on the Internet is both an individual and a community responsibility. Everyone who cares about young people must play a role in keeping them safe - parents, teachers, family, and friends.
At ictQATAR, through our Qatar Computer Emergency Response Team (Q-CERT), we continue to work with the Supreme Education Council (SEC) and private schools in Qatar to hold workshops for educators in both Arabic and English. Driven by the goal of promoting security awareness, the workshops help teachers develop ways to present security concerns to students in an age-appropriate fashion. Teachers also learn how to partner with families to protect children in cyberspace.
We will also collaborate with the SEC, the Council of Family Affairs, and the International Telecommunications Union to create cyber curriculum for schools. The curriculum will help teachers and learners know how to use the Internet safely in order to protect themselves and others.
ictQATAR is also committed to constructing a site that will be part of Hukoomi, Qatar's Government Online Portal, that will identify cyber risks and vulnerabilities to children. The site will contain policies, best practices, tools and resources on all aspects of cyber safety. User friendly for parents, teachers and children, the site will have a special Online- Help section specifically for children, teaching them where to go if they see something on the Internet that disturbs or concerns them. Children will be able to report an incident right there, and relevant authorities will be notified.
ictQATAR is committed to working across national boundaries on this critical issue. We will be an active participant as the ITU develops a Child Online Protection initiative - a global effort to tackle cyber security legally, technically, and organizationally.
But government agencies alone cannot keep children secure.
In many ways, keeping children safe online is the same as keeping them healthy and safe offline. Young people who are understood and cared about are more likely to feel comfortable confiding in an adult about being bullied or stalked, whether in school or online. Teachers, relatives, and parents must ensure that children feel confident and comfortable enough to confide in them, even about embarrassing occurrences.
Parents, grandparents, teachers, and siblings must also play a role in ensuring children's safety. What sites do kids visit? With whom are they having virtual conversations? Adults should know. It is a good idea for parents to spend time online with children in order to learn their interests and Internet activities. And adults must make sure young people understand that they should never give out personal information.
Parents can actively control children's online experience. Parental control tools allow grown-ups to block access to inappropriate content or pictures and monitor kids' online activity by storing site names or snapshots of material for later viewing. Tools also let parents set different restriction levels for each family member and block access to certain or all chat rooms. Adults can obtain these tools from a local computer or retail store, or their web browser. But they should remember that no parental control tool is one hundred percent secure. Tools can inadvertently allow access to inappropriate information, and savvy children can often figure out how to get around the controls.
Whether adults use parental control tools, or simply monitor kids' online activity, it is up to each of us to be part of a culture of responsibility; a culture that upholds our values and heritage while protecting our children so they can grow into well-adjusted, productive adults.
Even as we benefit from living in this miraculous time, we cannot ignore the challenges that accompany it. On this day, as nations commit to protect children on the Internet, my hope is that throughout Qatar, family members will explore how children spend time online. Together, we can enjoy the benefits of information and communications technology in countless ways - safely.
A downloadable PDF version is available at ictQATAR's website: http://www.ict.gov.qa/output/NewsPage.aspx?PageID=1257
