AS ABOUT 30 percent of internet users in the Philippines are kids aging 18 years and younger, the Trend Micro, Inc. and the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Philippines conducted a three-day caravan in different high schools in Davao City to further educate the youth on internet safety.
During the Habi at Kape weekly press conference at Abreeza Ayala Malls on Wednesday, January 24, Trend Micro, Inc. director for Technology Marketing MylaPilao said that through their "What's Your Story?" art caravan, they target to bring positive reinforcement to the young participants amid the negative effects that the Internet bring to the kids.
The caravan was conducted at Daniel R. Aguinaldo National High School on January 24, Davao Wisdom Academy on January 25, and Sta. Ana National High School on Friday, January 26. The caravan encouraged students to create traditional and digital art to promote internet safety in connection to Trend Micro's objective of bringing a world safe for digital information exchange.
Pilao also shared that what the adults face as challenges in using the internet are almost the same challenges and problems that the kids face.
"Fake news is a growing problem, not just on the global perspective but also in the Philippines because the Philippines has a big appetite for socio-political issues. But remember, 30 percent of the biggest users in the internet are the kids. So they are also being challenged right now on absorbing which is true and which is not," she said.
Pilao also said the lengthy exposure of the Filipino kids to the internet, which averages at four hours per day, exposes them to a lot of inappropriate visual messages. She added that 80 percent of the mobile apps available for the kids' download are categorized as high-risk or malicious. In some cases, the applications that are supposed to be games are not actually games but contains malicious content.
During the "What's Your Story?" art caravan, the participants were asked to create art revolving around the question "If you could change one thing about the Internet, what would it be?" The caravan was first launched in 2013 to create awareness and advance discussions on cybersecurity at homes and businesses.
Aside from that, online preferences and online courses have also been made available by Trend Micro, Inc. which the parents and kids can read through to learn more about cybersecurity even after the art caravan was finished.
"The growing number of online crimes such as phishing scams, cyber bullying, identity theft, and sexual harassment shows the need to be more cautious online... Trend Micro envisions the Internet to be a safer and more secure place for every Filipino to exchange digital information. The 'What's Your Story?' art caravan aims to encourage the youth to take part in that mission," she said in a statement.