Africa Blog
Google in Sub-Saharan Africa: news, stories and thoughts
Cybersecurity Month: Providing helpful resources for parents, teachers & students to navigate the digital world
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
The Cyber Security Awareness Month is observed in October across the world annually and was created to ensure that every individual stays safe and secure online. According to
UNICEF
, millions of children are at a heightened
risk of online threats
as learning and daily activities move increasingly online during lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As part of our
commitment
to help kids and families stay safe online, especially during this period, we’re excited to announce a few initiatives happening this month.
Online Safety Webinars for Parents and Families
The online safety webinars are designed to help parents learn about helpful and find digital wellbeing tips to navigate the online world with their kids safely . The training content covers tips for setting digital ground rules for the family, helpful resources for discovering and managing family friendly content, and protecting simple solutions for protecting the family´s online privacy and security. Parents can also find quick links to learn about safety tools like
Family Link
,
Youtube Kids
, &
Digital wellbeing
. To register for the webinars across SSA, please visit
goo.gle/onlinesafety
Localizing Online Safety Awareness through fun and informative Story Books
In continuation of our work to make it simpler for children to learn how to be safe while online, we have partnered with children's author,
Nomthi Odukoya
to create an online safety story book, titled How to be Safe Online, for families with children aged 10 to 16 years old.
This book simplifies the basics of digital citizenship and safety so children can explore the online world with confidence. Children can learn important safety tips including tips on how to communicate effectively online, tips on how to spot scams and phishers, how to safeguard valuable personal information, how to spread positivity online, tips for disempowering cyberbullying, and how children can to escalate to a trusted adult when they face difficulties online.
The stories have also been adapted to local Kenyan, Nigerian and South African names, to make it easier for kids to relate with the story better. We are working with educational partners to share free copies across Sub Saharan Africa to families and institutions with kids aged between 10 and 16 years old.
We invite you to download the e- version for advanced readers aged 8 and above on the Read Along app.
Download
the read along app to get started
Scaling the Online Safety Learning in Schools
On the heels of the
launch
of our online safety education curriculum in Nigeria, we are pleased to announce new plans, in partnership with the South African
Western Cape Education Department
to launch an online safety curriculum guideline for grades 8 to 12. The guidelines which will be integrated into the Life Orientation subject will be announced at a virtual event today, 21st of October, 2020. We invite you to
register
to attend here.
More than ever before, the need to help more people understand and practice online safety practices is crucial especially for families with children, who have been learning either virtually or through a hybrid of in person and virtual training. We understand this, and remain committed to building, developing and investing in tools and projects to help families stay safe.
To learn more about our resources to keep you and your family safe, please visit the
Google Safety Center
.
Posted by Charles Murito, Director, Government Affairs and Public Policy, Sub-Saharan Africa
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