Parents have been entreated to be concerned about what their children use the internet for and “guide” them to ensure that they derive maximum benefit from it.
Failure to do this may result in the abuse, misuse and the production of cybercriminals.
“Providing internet-related gadgets for children or young adults without supervision is not unacceptable.”
A programme Officer for Child Online Protection at the National Cybersecurity Centre of the Ministry of Communications, Nelson Darko stated this at a Cybersecurity Awareness programme organised for students and teachers at Bunkpurugu Senior High Technical School in the Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri District of the North East Region.
He said the internet, being an important innovation and asset to the world it also has its risks and “unhygienic practices” which require that children are supervised to enable them to use it wisely for academic purposes and for other essential activities.
Mr. Darko took the students through the “Dos” and “Don’ts” of the internet and highlighted the need for the students not to post their naked pictures online, avoid sharing their passwords with people and accepting messages, files and friend requests from people they don’t know.
He advised them to create strong passwords or passphrases that will make it difficult for hackers to break into their accounts or data online.
Mr Darko told the students that it is not everything they see online that is reliable, adding that most information on the internet are fake and risky. To this end, he advised them to check with trusted adults on any content they find on the internet.
One of the students narrated how the education and social life of a girl whose sex video with the boyfriend posted online were affected.
She said the girl whose sex video was circulated online could not come out in public for months thereby affecting her entire life.
The National Lead for the Computer Emergency Response Team, CERT-GH, Mrs Audrey Mireku took the students through tips on staying safe online.
She emphasized the need for the children to stay safe online by desisting from giving out their personal information to people.
She said it is inappropriate for the students to meet up with people they have only met on the internet since it is dangerous saying they can either be harmed sexually, kidnapped or their personal effects taken from them.
Mrs Mireku encouraged the students to try and tell parents, guardians and adults they trust if someone or something makes them uncomfortable on the internet.
She said common risks online including child pornography, mobile money fraud, fake news, cyberbullying, sextortion and romance fraud should be avoided by following internet etiquette.
Mrs Mireku also advised the students and teachers to use the National Cybersecurity Centre’s Points of Contact to report cybercrimes to ensure that bad practices online are stopped.
Osman Abdul-Samed, a Deputy Director with the Ministry of Communications, lectured the students on the productive use of the internet and entreated them to take full advantage of the cyberspace since it has become part of our lives.
He said the internet can be used for research and academic works, transactions, buying and selling among various useful activities.
Mr Abdul-Samed advised asked the children to focus their energies towards the positive use of the cyberspace.
Madam Gladys Miriam Osman, Deputy Director, Programmes at the National Commission for Civic Education, NCCE Headquarters Accra, urged the students to share the knowledge acquired during the sensitisation programme with their colleagues and parents to enable them to also be guided in the use of the internet.
She reminded the participants that the bad pictures they post online from their phones and other gadgets do not leave the cyberspace as they are stored in the clouds and may pop up again.
Those nude pictures, she noted will be used against them in the future.
The Assistant Headmaster in charge of Academics, Bunkpurugu Senior High Technical School, Laaribik Baariyan said the programme was good and very educative.
With the education, he said now both teachers and students will be careful about what they do on the internet.
“The programme was good but very short, you should find the time and come back” He requested.
He was grateful to the sensitisation team for reaching out to Bunkpurugu which shares borders with Nothern Togo with the message on Cybersecurity.
A total of 1, 194 students participated in the programme and 59 teachers also benefited.
Sandra Asinale, a Form Three Home Economics student won the palmtop tablet from Nasco for emerging the best in the cybersecurity competition.
Other students who took part in the competition were also given consolation prizes.
This year’s National Cybersecurity Awareness Month programme is under the theme: “Demonstrating Ghana’s Cybersecurity Readiness “.
Story by Dominic Hlordzi.
