"Cyber bullying has become a topical issue among school learners in South Africa. However, there is very little guidance for schools on how to deal with cyber bullying from the South African Department of Basic Education. This study investigated the perceptions of cyber bullying in primary and secon
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dary schools among student teachers in the Eastern Cape. The study made use of a quantitative survey approach to collect data from 150 student teachers at a university in the Eastern Cape. The student teachers were representative of all four of the school phases. The results indicated that cyber bullying is a serious issue at the schools but that the topic has not been incorporated into policy or the school curriculum yet. The recommendation of the study is that the South African Department of Basic Education must provide a standardized policy that schools can use to implement and enforce cyber safety behavior in the schools." (Abstract)
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"The review found that while there is a growing global body of evidence around effective education programming to prevent child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA), much of the available evidence is from high income countries (HICs) and largely focuses on programmes which address offline rather tha
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n online abuse. The evidence that does exist on prevention of online CSEA is also from HICs, is of low quality overall and tends to focus on whether the intervention enhanced knowledge rather than changed behaviour. Further, as Internet use amongst children varies between high income and low income countries, it is important to be cautious in applying lessons learned across different contexts. Although online and offline CSEA are closely linked, it was also found that there is often an artificial division, with programmes tending to look at only online or only offline CSEA. Therefore, there is limited evidence of how programmes impact on both online and offline CSEA. In the East Asia and Pacific region, the evidence base on what works to tackle CSEA in education programming is at an early stage in scope and scale. Few comprehensive assessments or evaluations of education programmes tackling CSEA have taken place and/or are publicly available. It is also unclear whether majority of existing interventions are being evaluated and whether they were designed using evidence-informed theories of change methodology. Despite the constraints faced, this review draws on promising global and regional practice, emerging lessons and findings from available data on online risks, to highlight key factors to consider in the development of effective educational materials in East Asia and the Pacific." (Executive summary)
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"This study is a snapshot of children’s use of social media in East Asia, focusing on four countries: Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The research incorporates the experiences of 301 children across the four countries, including 121 street children and refugees, collected through a ser
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ies of focus group discussions and participatory exercises. The qualitative data collected was supplemented by a confidential anonymous self-administered 20-item questionnaire completed at the end of the focus group discussions. While more is arguably known about how children in middle- and high-income families use social media, those from lower income families, marginalized children, children with disabilities, street children and refugee children are often excluded from conversations on their use of social media and online safety. This study explicitly attempted to include the voices of children from these populations. These were supplemented by discussions with parents, grandparents, caregivers and frontline workers including social workers, counsellors, child psychiatrists and educators." (Introduction)
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"COVID-19 has prompted widespread school closures and physical distancing measures and made online platforms and communities essential to maintaining a sense of normalcy. Children and their families are turning to digital solutions more than ever to support children’s learning, socialization and p
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lay. While digital solutions provide huge opportunities for sustaining and promoting children’s rights, these same tools may also increase children’s exposure to online risks. This technical note sets out some of the key priorities and recommendations on how to mitigate those risks and promote positive online experiences for children." (Page 1)
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"Many parents and guardians are under a common misconception that their child is safer if they use the computer at home, or at school, than elsewhere. This is a dangerous misconception because the Internet can take children and young people virtually anywhere in the world, and in the process, they c
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an be exposed to potentially dangerous risks, just as they could in the physical world. However, children and young people do experience slightly increased risk of harm when accessing the Internet via a smartphone, tablet or other handheld devices. This is because these handheld devices give instant access to the Internet from anywhere and are less likely to be monitored by parents or carers. These guidelines have been developed within the child online protection (COP) initiative, as part of the ITU Global Cybersecurity Agenda3, with the aim of establishing the foundations for a safe and secure cyberworld not only for today’s youth but also for future generations. These guidelines also focus on children with vulnerabilities, particularly, migrant children, children with ASD and children with disabilities. The guidelines are meant to act as a blueprint which can be adapted and used in a way that is consistent with national or local customs and laws and address issues that might affect all children and young people under the age of 18." (Executive summary)
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"Here are some practical steps you can follow to keep yourself safer during this period and improve the time that you and your family have both online and offline: 1. It is important to check your privacy settings on ALL of your social media accounts and know how to set your accounts to private or t
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o friends online. You can find advice here or here on how to change your settings. 2. Make sure that when you are using any applications that use video, your location cannot be identified. 3. When you step away from the camera for any reason, the video may still be on and recording. It is okay to cover the camera when not using it. ALWAYS ensure that the video is turned off at the end of a session. And think about what other people can see when the video is on. 4. Be extra careful of how you treat and communicate with your friends online during this time. Think about how your posts, comments, likes and shares might affect those who see them. 5. Meeting new people is part of the attraction of being online but be extra careful while you are online during the pandemic. Remember that not everyone online who wants to talk to you has the same reason as you for wanting to chat. If you are in any doubt, block the person and speak to a trusted adult about your concerns [...]" (Pages 2-3)
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"There are legal protections for victims of sexual offences. The Editors’ Code of Practice also puts restrictions on reporting of sexual offences to protect the identity of victims. Carefully consider the information you want to publish to ensure that a victim is not identified, or likely to be id
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entified. Take care when making enquiries to avoid disclosure of a victim’s identity. Additional protections apply in cases involving children, especially when there is a familial relationship between defendant and victim. A number of clauses in the Code are relevant to the issue of reporting sexual offences. The most relevant clauses are Clause 7 (Children in sex cases) and Clause 11 (Victims of sexual assault) but other clauses to consider include Clause 1 (Accuracy), Clause 2 (Privacy) and Clause 6 (Children)." (Key points)
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"The Children’s Media Lives study provides an in-depth understanding of how a sample of 18 children, aged eight to 18, are thinking about and using digital media, and how this differs and is influenced by age, life stage, family circumstances, peer groups and wider society. It explores how digital
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media use evolves over time as children develop and respond to offline factors such as new schools, friendships, and access to new technologies. This is the sixth wave of this longitudinal study into children’s media lives. The unique ability to review analysis, dating back to 2014, allows us to identify structural shifts in children’s media use and to explore the drivers behind new and emerging patterns of behaviour." (Introduction)
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"In September 2019, the End Violence Fund launched a $13 million open call for solutions focused on leveraging new and existing technologies. These technologies include artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, blockchain, virtual reality and other innovative solutions that have the p
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otential to enhance detection and response to online violence, or those that can prevent known and emerging threats of online child sexual exploitation and abuse." (Page 7)
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"The Child Online Safety Index (COSI) measures the level of online safety for children across the world based on six pillars: Cyber Risks, Disciplined Digital Use, Digital Competency, Guidance & Education, Social Infrastructure, and Connectivity. Each of these pillars are formed by 2-8 focused areas
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, allowing for a comprehensive assessment of online safety for children. A COSI score was calculated for each country ranging from 0 (the worst online safety for children) to 100 (the best online safety for children)." (https://www.dqinstitute.org)
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"The author summarizes approaches how TV stations, content platforms and media networks for children in South and Latin America respond to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic." (Abstract)
"At UNICEF, the Technology for Development (T4D) function within the Information and Communication Technology Division (ICTD) provides advisory, implementation and quality assurance services to programmes on technology and digital innovation in UNICEF, and leadership on digital innovation. It helps
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to identify the most promising technologies and digital innovations for application in different contexts, supporting UNICEF programmes to adopt, adapt and scale up the approaches that are most useful, and to quickly identify those that are not. It also helps to institutionalize those technologies and digital innovations that show promise and are ready to be mainstreamed, in close collaboration with national partners, and in support of national goals and sectoral priorities, the UNICEF Strategic Plan 2018–2021 and the SDGs.
In the first three years of the Strategic Plan, ICTD has had a powerful impact on scaling digital innovation and accelerating results for children across the organization. To date, more than 1,400 T4D and innovation initiatives have been catalogued through INVENT – the global Technology for Development and Innovations Inventory – which provides a view of the universe of T4D initiatives by Strategic Plan Goal Area, Stage and Scale. These initiatives span UNICEF programmes across the world and address children’s health, nutrition, education, protection, access to water, sanitation and hygiene, and inclusion.
In health, nutrition and early childhood development, UNICEF has harnessed the power of ICT to support countries to ensure that every child survives and thrives. That means bringing together a multi-sectoral team to use technology, digital innovation and human-centred design to strengthen health systems and the health system enabling environment. For example, in Pakistan, UNICEF has supported the government to use real-time monitoring to strengthen immunization services. The use of the opensource technology, RapidPro, enabled service delivery that helped providers vaccinate more than 37 million children against measles in 2018, according to government reports." (Executive summary)
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