Google: Combating Online Child Abuse

Internet today has become an integral part of our lives, adults and children alike. Especially for the youth and children it has become a part of their learning tool for school work, educational information, project related as well as entertainment like gaming and social networking. However, we still are not in complete agreement about how to use the internet to its full potential with the right approach to education and yet safe guarding our children from the menace of internet. Yes, rightly so, internet can play havoc in a child’s life if not used properly. There does not seem to be any specific guidelines or universally accepted view or rule in the internet that defines a child and an adult. It also becomes difficult to filter what can be defined as “inappropriate content and behavior”. Furthermore, even though parents can set strict levels of filtering for their wards but it is not fool proof, at times these filtering tend to either under- or over-block contents. It has become important for parents, teachers, guardians and peers to educate the children and the youth about the risk and also the responsibilities they may come across while using the internet. They children and youth need to be empowered with the skills to recognize and avoid dangers that lurk while they are on the net.

Google has announced a new partnership with National Parents Teachers Association and the nonprofit donorsChoose.org on a project which they call “Be Internet Awesome”. It has been found that parents often feel they are not tech savvy enough than their kids. They want to safeguard their children from the dangers of internet and yet they don’t seem to be unable to broach the subject and talk to their child. To combat this situation Google has developed a workshop kit that helps parents and kids to teach each other about how to start a productive discussion on internet safety and responsibility. The Each Be Internet Awesome kit is bilingual and comes in English and Spanish versions. There is a presentation that has been developed in collaboration with Family Online Safety Institute. Google has set its goal to reach 5 million kids with Be Internet Awesome by this year.

By: Madhuchanda Saxena

Content: https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/11/17964482/google-educational-initiative-online-safety-positivity-cyber-bullying-awareness