Internet safety in Islands Business magazine

The October issue of Islands Business carries a very good cover story on Internet safety in the Pacific. There are some excellent comments from Rajnesh Singh, president of PICISOC:

"What is required in the Pacific is a structured user-education and awareness programme," said Rajnesh Singh, parent, IT specialist and chairman of the Pacific Islands Chapter of the Internet Society (PICISOC), a network of individuals interested in the development of the Internet in the Pacific islands. "At the PICISOC annual conference, PacINET, we have run Internet safety sessions in the past and these continue to be a common theme in recent conferences."

"Many (non-Pacific) countries have set up rather successful Internet safety groups which have done much to educate users on the dangers that exist and actions that can be followed to counter them. With the continuing proliferation of the Internet in the Pacific, we perhaps need to do the same, not as governmental 'control' but as a multi-stakeholder group initiative supported by governments."

Singh further suggested the review of computer/ICT curriculum in schools in the early stages so Internet safety issues can be covered.
[Cover story: the net and children, Islands Business, October, 2007]

There are also a few quotes from my recent Internet safety post such as the steps to creating an Internet safe home:

On dfiji.blogspot.com, the blogger Hammond-Thrasher offered a simple programme for Pacific parents to follow to help them supervise their children’s online activities—

• Step One: Choose a location for the family computer where you spend a lot of time, such as the kitchen or the TV room. Face the computer screen so that you can keep an eye on what is going on.
• Step Two: Spend time online with your child. Find a few minutes every day to sit down with your children and surf a sports website, see what’s new on Hi5, type a letter to a relative, organise family photographs online, or update the family blog.
• Step Three: Talk to your children about their online activities. Talk about the dangers they need to watch out for—use foreign news reports of online crimes involving children.

Credit to Dionisia Tabureguci and Islands Business for dragging this important issue into the light. Now I ask this question, how can we create a long-lasting Internet safety program in Fiji?
Photo by: djringer