New Resource to Empower Parents to Raise Safe, Smart and Kind Digital Citizens

06 Feb 2018
Better Internet Campaign to Target Youths, Parents, Seniors & General Public

1. This year’s Better Internet Campaign (BIC) marks the launch of a 20-page parent resource jointly produced by international think tank Digital Quotient (DQ) Institute and the Media Literacy Council (MLC). The resource will be translated into the official languages of Singapore with Twitter’s support.

2. As part of the BIC, DQ Institute and Media Literacy Council are partnering with various stakeholders, including Twitter for translation and venue support, the National Library Board for venue support, TOUCH Cyber Wellness and MENDAKI to conduct 40 digital literacy workshops for parents. Companies can also approach the MLC to conduct workshops for their employees at their offices. In addition, an online portal with useful resources will be made available to parents at a later date. These initiatives mark the annual Safer Internet Day (SID) and the launch of the fifth edition of BIC. MLC has spearheaded the campaign since Singapore’s participation in the global initiative in 2013.

3. In line with the global theme, BIC will adopt the campaign tagline “Be Safe, Be Smart & Be Kind Online”, and will run from 6 February to 31 December 2018. The campaign seeks to promote safe and responsible use of digital technology targeting youths, parents, seniors and the general public. Key issues that the campaign will focus on include cyber-bullying, discernment (fact checking) and cyber safety and security.

4. To increase the public’s accessibility of the resources, bite-sized instructional content through online videos on cyber-bullying and discerning online content (through fact-checking), a television commercial on cyber safety and security for seniors, as well as social media content and tip sheets covering these issues will be produced to generate awareness, conversations and reflections on the issues among the various target audiences according to their needs.

5. Mr Lock Wai Han, Chairman of the Media Literacy Council, said: “Parents play a pivotal role in their children’s well-being and face new challenges in today’s digital society, as children are exposed to digital devices at an earlier age. With the launch of the DQ parent resource which MLC worked with DQ institute to produce, we hope to better equip parents with information and skills to encourage their children to navigate the digital world safely, smartly and responsibly. This year’s campaign also sees the MLC strengthening its efforts to combat fake news and promote discernment among individuals through online instructional videos and resources aimed at raising public awareness and education on fact-checking.”

6. Dr Park Yuhyun, founder of the DQ Institute, said “We found that the parental role is pivotal for children’s online safety and development of digital intelligence. It is important to give parents tools that can be easily used at home, to empower parents and children together. We hope that this campaign supports families in becoming more digitally healthy.”

7. Yayasan MENDAKI, a self-help group, supports the Better Internet Campaign. Its Chief Executive Officer, Mdm Rahayu Buang said, “We are excited to bring the DQ parent resource to our community and also to translate the workshops in Malay Language so that more parents can benefit from the workshops conducted”.

8. Mr Philip Chua, Public Policy Manager, Asia Pacific at Twitter, said “Safety is a core priority for us at Twitter. The next generation is growing up at a radically different time where mobile, social, and Internet savviness are a given. Our Safer Internet Day collaboration with the Media Literacy Council on workshops and resources is an important step to enable parents to keep up with their kids in this digital age and grow together as a digitally savvy, discerning community.”

9. Mrs Anita Low-Lim, Senior Director of TOUCH Community Services’ Children & Youth Group, said: “TOUCH Cyber Wellness believes that cyber wellness awareness and education begins at home and in school. As the appointed training partner of both the DQ World programme for children and the DQ Parents programme, we are glad to collaborate with MLC and DQ Institute in holistically raising safe, smart and kind digital citizens.”

10. Community efforts can also be seen as this year’s campaign will also showcase the top five winning student-led community initiatives supported under the Better Internet x Youths Call for Proposals (CFP) launched by the MLC on 13 April 2017, which attracted over 51 applications. Joining the MLC in its celebration of SID is social enterprise Make the Change which has launched a programme where youths are trained to be facilitators to conduct Digital Arts workshops for target beneficiaries, while CHIJ Katong Primary School will be launching a cyber-wellness education and outreach project to the community (please refer to Annex A for the list of other CFP activities throughout the campaign).

11. For updates on the Campaign, the public can refer to MLC’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/MediaLiteracyCouncilSG), MLC’s Twitter page (www.twitter.com/MLCSingapore) and MLC’s Instagram page (www.instagram.com/BetterInternetSG). The public can also show their support online for the Campaign by using the hashtag #BetterInternetSG.

About Safer Internet Day

The Safer Internet Day (SID) is a public awareness initiative started in 2004 by the Insafe Network, a network of Awareness Centres funded under the Safer Internet Programme of the European Commission. The SID takes place on the second Tuesday of February every year and seeks to promote safe and positive use of digital technology, especially amongst children and young people. This year’s global theme - “Be the Change: Unite for a Better Internet” - emphasises the importance of collaboration and unity.

About Media Literacy Council

The Media Literacy Council (MLC) works in partnership with industry, community and government to champion and develop public education and awareness programmes relating to media literacy and cyber wellness. In an increasingly interactive and participatory media landscape, the MLC seeks to cultivate and encourage the public to become discerning media consumers with the ability to evaluate media content effectively, and use, create and share content safely and responsibly. It also advises the government on how to respond to emerging issues relating to Internet and media content.

For more information, please contact:

Media Literacy Council
Tammy Yap
Tel: 6577 3544
Email: tammy_yap@imda.gov.sg

Mileage Communications
Jacqueline Ho / Bryan Koh
Tel: 6222 1678
Email: jacqueline@mileage.com.sg/bryan@mileage.com.sg

Annex A

Community Projects launched under the Better Internet X Youth Call-for-Proposals

1. CHIJ Katong (Primary)
Towards a Cyber Smart Community
A community-focused initiative to train students to educate “vulnerable” community stakeholders on cyber safety
6 Feb 18 - IJ Family Celebrates Safer Internet Day
Apr 18 & Jul to Sep 18 - Community exhibitions and roadshows

2. The Hidden Good
We-ternet
A social experiment involving a discussion between children and their parents on identifying fake news and internet usage
6 Feb 18 - We-ternet video launch

3. Make the Change
Digital Arts for All
A programme where youths are trained to be facilitators to conduct Digital Arts workshops for target beneficiaries
Dec 17 to Apr 18 - 10 Digital Arts Workshops
Mar 18 & Jun 18 - Digital Arts Exhibition

4. Republic Polytechnic
Intergenerational Digital Literacy Programme
Youth student leaders to be trained and resources developed to help seniors pick up digital skills and knowledge
Jan 18 & May 18 - Workshops for Seniors

5. Temasek Polytechnic
Zhun Bo
A web series featuring a game show where mature adults and seniors are quizzed on the authenticity of news. The aim is to promote info-literacy skills in a light-hearted manner.
May 18 - Webisode launch