SPECIAL lessons on Internet safety, safe browsing and secure online payments will be taught to students in public and private schools after the summer break.
Cyber security has now been added to the Interior Ministry’s Anti Violence and Addiction Programme, or Ma’an (Together), which has so far covered more than 120,000 students of different age groups in more than 173 government and private schools.
It is based on the US Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E International) programme that seeks to prevent drug use, gang membership and violent behaviour among school students.
Ma’an programme director Ali Amini said as part of the latest initiative they plan to introduce a new cyber security curriculum that would be taught to all students in the next academic year, 2022-2023.
“As a pilot project we will start by teaching the cyber security course starting from grade one until grade four, while the second phase will cover all students in public and private schools,” he told the GDN.
Training
“It was vital to revise our curriculum especially with the boom in virtual learning due to the pandemic, with teachers and students completing tasks online.”
Under the Ma’an programme launched in 2011 trained community personnel including females conduct classes and activities that have been credited for cutting down violence, addiction, bullying and other negative phenomena.
They interact with students at kindergarten, primary, intermediate and secondary levels once a week.
Mr Amini added they have partnered with the National Cybersecurity Centre’s Outreach and Awareness directorate’s director Aysha Bin Haji.
“Our aim is to educate the children about Internet safety, online predators, secure payments and how to deal with cyber bullying,” said Ms Bin Haji.
“In most of the above cases, the child or the parents do not open up, but if they are educated they can deal with the situation.
“Children want to share posts or stories to be in that circle of social media emotional wellness, and it’s important they are not bullied online because it could lead to isolation or even addiction.”
She added one of the main concepts that needs to be taught is digital citizenship among children and adults.
“We all need to leave behind a positive digital footprint rather than negative comments or being rude to someone online.
“This training will help children from different age groups be more aware about the evolving cyber threats and assessing different scenarios.”
Meanwhile, Mr Amini added they were finalising the training modules in English and Arabic that will be taught when the next academic year starts in September.
“Our programmes keep changing and we will continue working on more in house and virtual modules.”
D.A.R.E was launched in 1983 and is the largest K-12 prevention education programme in the world taught in thousands of schools throughout America and other countries.
For more information about the Ma’an programme, contact 17750597.
sandy@gdnmedia.bh
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