Talk of the Town and SurfSmart recently joined forces to present a comprehensive cyber safety and awareness session for teachers at eKuphumleni Full Service School. The presentation targeted critical topics such as cyberbullying, internet safety, and the challenges of disinformation and misinformation.
SurfSmart’s Luthango Ngqokoqwana highlighted the vast reach of the internet, revealing that as of January 2024, a staggering 5.35 billion people, equivalent to 66.2% of the global population, were internet users. Furthermore, 5.04 billion individuals, or 62.3% of the world’s population, were active on social media platforms.
Ngqokoqwana emphasised the good and bad of the internet: as much as the internet offers access to knowledge and opportunities for growth, it also poses significant risks, particularly for vulnerable young people. He stressed the importance of empowering school children with the skills and confidence to navigate these risks effectively.
A key focus of the presentation was cyberbullying, which Ngqokoqwana defined as a form of online harassment, often done by individuals or groups using digital platforms to intentionally harm and intimidate their targets. The constant accessibility of smartphones, he noted, makes cyberbullying a particularly difficult form of harassment, highlighting the need for proactive measures to educate and protect learners.
Teachers can help combat this by creating a “telling” atmosphere – so that pupils will report cyberbullying where they see it. There are many other ways to combat this such as:
- Promote different routes and methods for learners to report cyberbullying
- Regularly update anti-bullying policies to address evolving cyberbullying, facilitating investigations and consequences.
- Encourage students to build friendships, creating a positive, supportive school environment to deter cyberbullying.
Talk of the Town reporter Sibulele Mtongana spoke about the importance of knowing and understanding misinformation and disinformation. Disinformation and misinformation are two types of false information. Misinformation is spread unintentionally, often due to mistakes or lack of knowledge. Disinformation, on the other hand, is spread intentionally to deceive or manipulate others. Both can have harmful effects, such as spreading confusion or mistrust. To combat this, it’s essential to critically evaluate information, identify biases, and verify sources.
“In our daily lives it is so easy to fall prey to misinformation,” Mtongana said. “A great example of this would be gossip: gossiping is spreading information without being certain of the truthfulness of that information.
“Teachers need to stop children from gossiping about each other as it can become harmful, and unfortunately bad news spreads faster that good.”
When consuming any type of information or media, make sure you have a reliable source, Mtongana stressed.
“Don’t be dependent on one source: research the information you consume and look at other different media platforms to try and gauge whether it is true. Be wary of also just reading headlines and assuming what the story is: a lot of platforms use headlines as ‘click-bait’. But many people won’t read the actual story and will just run with what they believe the headline says. Be wary of that as well.”
About SurfSmart
GLLI’s internet safety program, SurfSMART, sensitises learners and their ecosystem about safe and responsible online practices. The student-centered internet safety skills training program sets out to empower children aged 10 to 18 years old, along with their teachers, parents, and guardians, to use the internet safely.
SurfSMART operates across the Eastern Cape across three districts: OR Tambo Inland and OR Tambo Coastal and Sarah Baartman. The programme collaborates with district Departments of Education, The Impact Amplifier and Africa Online Safety Fund through its Africa Online Safety Platform. The programme also partners with local media outlets, namely the Talk of The Town and Ndlambe FM. SurfSMART aims to reach schools in the Sarah Baartman District in the Eastern Cape and encourages schools to invite the SurfSMART team to do talks, presentations and dialogues on Internet Safety as it pertains to students, teachers and parents. For more information about the SurfSMART programme, please contact Luthango Ngqokoqwane at 046-624-1498.
- This article was first published in Talk of the Town, August 22, 2024. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
