'Safer Internet' project launched
A number of entities have come together to promote safer use of the Internet, particularly for children.
Coordinated by the Malta Communications Authority, the BeSmartOnline! project has brought together Agenzija Appogg, the Office of the Commissioner for Children, the Directorate for Educational Services (DES), the Secretariat for Catholic Education, and the Police Force.
They will be working together towards raising awareness and educating minors, carers and educators on the safer use of the Internet, establishing, operating and promoting reporting facilities for internet abuse as well as providing support to respective victims and their families.
Education Minister Dolores Cristina welcomed the initiative and praised the collaboration of the diverse stakeholders especially when working with minors such as in this case.
“We are dealing with digital natives that are able to outsmart us on the keyboard. However this does not give us parents, educators and policy makers the right to abdicate our responsibilities of ensuring their safety and wellbeing,” she said.
Charlo' Bonnici, Parliamentary Assistant, Ministry for Infrastructure, Transport and Communications (MITC) said young people explicitly expressed themselves on the Internet and it would be an irrational move for anyone to attempt to control or silence their voice. “Our mission must be to ensure that our youths make the most of these opportunities in a safe environment. This can only be achieved through awareness and education supported by the necessary legal, regulatory and social frameworks,” he continued.
A panel discussion on internet safety was also addressed by Helen D’Amato, Commissioner for Children; Micheline Sciberras, Director General Education Services; Sina Bugeja, Chief Executive Officer, Foundation for Social Welfare Services; Insp. Trevor Sammut, Malta Police Force; and Lawrence Bonello for the Directorate of Educational Services, Secretariat for Catholic Education.
Supportline 179 will be used as a helpline and hotline and will offer support and advice on matters of internet safety and where people may report internet abuse respectively. An education campaign through the media, in all schools, and a series of public events will be targeting minors, parents and educators.
A National Advisory Board has already been set up and will be facilitating discussion with all local stakeholders including NGOs, governmental agencies and private organisations. A Youth Panel is also planned to give a direct voice to Maltese youth. The initiative is supported by the www.besmartonline.org.mt website.
The project is co-financed by the Safer Internet Programme of the European Union and the centre will form part of INSAFE, the European network of Awareness Centres.
Popular Stories
Update 3: Woman found dead in car,...
Updated: Woman dies in car crash
Carm Mifsud Bonnici resigns after...
Part of Dwejra 'Azure window' collapses
The end of the bar that ‘never closed’
Bundy does not know whether to...
Updated - Jason Micallef demands...
This WAS the night - Kurt makes it...
'No need for early election if PM's...
In Discussion
Updated - Jason Micallef demands...
Gozo tunnel could take 5-7 years to...
CABS remote controlled aircraft shot...
Carm Mifsud Bonnici resigns after...
Joseph Calleja condemns portrayal of...
Updated: Labour would give...
CABS drone shot down
Second group of migrants arrives
Adrian Vassallo in scathing...
11 Comments
Post comment
Please sign in or create your Account to post comments.
Peter Paul Farrugia
Feb 17th 2011, 10:28
Altough I think it is important, I also feel that we should focus more on getting our children out of their rooms. It is becoming more and more common for youngsters to get locked up at their computers, playing games which are mostly focused around war and violence. The problem is that most parents think that since their kids are indoors, they are safe... the reality is very far from this. Children are missing out on much needed interaction, playtime is essential for development of essential skills such as socialising and interpersonal skills, not to mention it is also good for their health !!
How many children do we see playing in our beautiful valleys, the way we used to, building kites, playing football or hiking, these activities do not interest children any more because they are more interested in playing the latest war game or idling about social networing sites .
Wake up parents, we used to go out and get dirty and we turned out just fine !!
L. Zammit
Feb 17th 2011, 08:58
@ Mr. Borg and all armchair critics,
I can confirm what was stated by Mr Micallef since I myself was present for a very informative and fruitful talk about internet safety way back in 2006. This was held in a very professional way with attractive powerpoint presentations etc and the Support teacher replied to all our queries with great dedication and patience. The EU funds are very welcome, however they are giving more fruit to what has been already planted. All PSD Teachers and ICT Support Teachers - Keep up your excellent work!
saviour falzon
Feb 17th 2011, 07:50
sure, ther are softwares that apart from restricting sites , a parent can know what his kids have been doing on the PC.
There are so mnay things to do..
sure that's why that software is good, so it will helps the parent supervise his kids- he can just login ,and will see all his kids doings- thanks to these new softwares..
well to teach is always good.these softwares and the parents- works together- as a parent cannot all the time be with his kids on pc-
so these softwares will monitor everything..
Michael Aquilina
Feb 16th 2011, 19:34
policing the internet never works. There are many many ways of bypassing these techniques.
R.Borg
Feb 16th 2011, 18:23
Thank you!
Better late than never!
The EU has at last awaken and even Malta!
The harm has been done none the less.
Joseph Micallef
Feb 16th 2011, 19:44
Mr. Borg and all other armchair critics here - you talk as if nothing has been done regarding internet safety until now! For your information, PSD teachers have been tackling the issue for quite some time already - and so have ICT Support teachers who have given talks about the subject to students, teachers and parents alike. Just because there is a new EU funded project being launched does not mean nothing had been done before!
T Cuschieri
Feb 17th 2011, 09:55
There were other similar initiatives Mr. Borg - and only because you didn't know about them it doesn't mean that nothing was done before today.
There were loads of awareness campaign and an EU-funded hotline (supported by Agenzija Appogg) to give support to victims (or potential victims) of Internet abuse giving support to both the children and their parents. At the time these were led by the IT Ministry (and I'm talking 2006/07 not decades ago. Just to refresh your memory Mr. Borg.
M Bugeja
Feb 16th 2011, 17:49
Blocking sites is never the answer! The act of forbidding to a child does two things:a)whereas before discovering that site X is blocked, the child might be totally unaware of the problem and therefore not interested, then b)the child rebels and does everything to gain access to X. The installation of parental control programs not only necessitates the explanation as to why it's necessary, but also incites the natural instinct to defy limits. As a 20year old, during my teenage years, I have often been subjected to such software, which proved to be incredibly frustrating (affected system performance heavily) as well as annoying. Case in point: the public MITA filter currently does not allow certain fitness sites on the basis of "intimate male apparel". Again, growing up, I found no difficulty in modifying a couple of parameters in the code, even with limited system access, killing most programs, if not uninstalling them outright. My 8yrold brother recently did the same to his. Parents should supervise their children. Then again, it is only natural for a 14 year old male to seek certain things. Let nature take it's course-it's a better teacher than most of us.
saviour falzon
Feb 16th 2011, 15:41
EH? Launches now?
ehmm , excuse me , don't you know that there are so many good sites , how to be safe on the internet? there are also advices on how to stay safe on the internet by downloading a programme like from parentals controls etc..
theer is a software which parents can buy for a few euro , so they can limit to what their kids can see and do on the PC.
well maybe so many people don't use the pc well- I think in a way maybe they wil find this useful...But the informations have been there for years.....
if someone types staying safe on the internet he/she allready finds many useful information :)
Jesmond Micallef
Feb 16th 2011, 15:10
I welcome these initiatives but what about other forms of communication such as mobile phones ? Are there any abusive tendencies here too ? Anyway, I wish this initiative good success in promoting genuine communication too.
Joseph Micallef
Feb 16th 2011, 15:26
Mobile phones will be tackled as well - and they were actually mentioned during the launch.