By Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, Chairman
Alliance for a Safe Community
KOTA KINABALU: Empowering Communities through Digital Safety Education: A Call to Action for Parents and Children
In today’s digital age, where online platforms shape the way we communicate, learn, work, and play, digital safety education has become a critical necessity for every member of society. It is no longer a matter for IT professionals alone — the responsibility to foster a digitally safe environment must be shared across communities, especially among parents and children.
While the internet offers endless opportunities for knowledge and growth, it also exposes users, particularly young ones, to significant risks such as cyberbullying, online scams, grooming, identity theft, misinformation, and exposure to harmful or inappropriate content. In many cases, children and even adults are unaware of the dangers that lurk online or lack the digital literacy needed to protect themselves.
Key Challenges in Achieving Digital Literacy:
Lack of Awareness: Many families, particularly in lower-income or rural areas, lack the awareness of online threats and the know-how to respond effectively.
Generational Gaps: Parents often find it difficult to keep up with the evolving digital landscape, apps, and platforms their children engage with.
Limited Access to Training Resources: Structured digital safety education is not widely available or embedded in school curricula and community programme.
Misinformation and Fake News: The ability to critically evaluate online information remains a challenge, even for adults.
Overreliance on Technology: Excessive screen time and lack of monitoring can increase children’s exposure to negative online influences.
Ways to Overcome These Challenges:
Community-Based Digital Literacy Campaigns: Government agencies, NGOs, and schools must work together to organise workshops, seminars, and awareness programmes tailored for parents, children, and community leaders.
Digital Safety Education in Schools: Schools should integrate digital citizenship, cyber hygiene, and critical thinking into the curriculum from an early age.
Parental Engagement and Training: Provide parents with tools, apps, and training to monitor and guide their children’s online behaviour. This includes promoting open communication at home about online experiences.
Public-Private Partnerships: Collaborate with tech companies and digital platforms to promote safer digital habits and tools, such as parental controls and content filters.
Safe Zones Online: Encourage the use of child-friendly digital spaces and educational content while teaching children to report suspicious or harmful activity.
Promote Ethical and Responsible Use: Foster values such as empathy, respect, and responsibility when interacting in digital spaces, both at home and in school.
We urge all stakeholders — educators, parents, policymakers, and the private sector — to recognise that digital safety education is not optional. It is a crucial life skill for navigating the modern world.
Let us empower our communities to be digitally literate, critically aware, and cyber-resilient. Protecting our children and building a safer digital future begin with informed action today.
