By ONYSHA BOAK, NICHOLAS YAP and CARLOS RUBEN DOURADO
rage.com.my/brats

IN an effort to promote positive digital behaviours and create awareness about Internet risks such as cyberbulling and cyber-grooming, Digi and Petrosains have collaborated to keep kids safe online.

That collaboration has resulted in Digi’s Digital City exhibition which features three segments – Digital Identities, Digital Journey and the Digital Citizenship Pledge. Hosted at Petrosains in KLCC, children and their parents will have the chance to explore the dangers lurking online.

“At the exhibition, children will gain insights on the various personas found online, such as trolls, keyboard warriors, stalkers – to name a few,” said Digi CyberSAFE principal Philip Ling.

“They will be taught how to overcome cyberbulling, which is rampant on various social media platforms, through a Kinect interactive activity that will help them understand the type of digital risks that exist.”

Parents can also pledge to keep their kids safe online, for example, by empowering their children to use the Internet safely and responsibly.

The exhibition, which will run until the end of the year, also aims to encourage parents to play a bigger role in ensuring that their children are safe online at all times.

According to Digi’s chief executive officer, Albern Murty, of the 90% of school students who have access to the Internet, about half of them were not monitored by their parents.

“Digi has the responsibility of ensuring that the Internet is a safe place for our children, as we enable Internet for more people in Malaysia,” he said.

“We need to arm parents and their children with the right tools so they can grow together in a positive environment. This will enable parents to be more alert to what their children are doing online and how to prevent it from affecting the children.”

Tengku Nasariah (centre, left) and Albern (centre, right) said their collaboration on Digital City will help children and parents learn about the dangers lurking online and how to avoid them. — Photo: HAZIM FAUZI/The Star

Petrosains CEO Tengku Nasariah Tengku Syed Ibrahim, said this collaboration with Digi helped them highlight a relevant social issue to their visitors.

“Ever since the exhibition premiered in November last year, we’ve been able to reach out to more than 100,000 students from 7,000 schools nationwide,” she said.

“It is our joint responsibility as adults to ensure that children become better digital citizens who are more resilient to online threats, and who are more responsible in online conduct.”

To learn more about Digi’s CyberSAFE initiative, log on to digi.cybersafe.my.