The Ministry of the Interior, represented by the Higher Committee for Child Protection, will celebrate the global day for promoting safe internet usage, under the slogan ‘Safer Internet’, on Tuesday. The celebration falls within the framework of international organizations’ efforts to promote concepts of safety regarding the internet and protecting children against any possible dangers.
In a statement, Major General Nasser Lakhrebani Al Nuaimi, Secretary General of the Office of HH Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, called for legislating parental supervision on the cyber behaviors and actions of their children. These cyber behaviors might affect their real life and reflect on their personalities even when they conceal their real identity under fake names. Parents should also have the ability to block some content to block undesired, harmful, and illegal behaviors. He said that they can protect children against modern technological dangers by increasing their awareness and understanding.
“We all need to develop and practice safe, legal, and ethical behaviors in this age of digital technologies. We also need to spread awareness to be able to effectively address privacy protection issues,” said Major General Al Nuaimi. “We must realize that while they are in contact with the cyber world, our children and teenagers are subject to all kinds of challenges and dilemmas that require advice and guidance to find suitable solutions.”
Furthermore, Major General Al Nuaimisaid that the global ‘Safer Internet Day’ is a manifestation of international organizations’ efforts of spreading the concepts of safe internet usage and child protection through early education. He asserted the importance of joint efforts that are in line with the goals of the Higher Committee for Child Protection at the Ministry of Interior,which is working on developing the procedures to reach the desired goals.
Additionally, he pointed out the many steps the Ministry of Interior has taken to improve child protection; namely, establishing the Child Protection Center that is concerned with all crimes that involve children, and all the practices that encourage child exploitation. It also works on finding the solutions and initiatives that guarantee the protection of children and monitoringany related cybercrimes.
Major General Al Nuaimi mentioned that the Higher Committee for Child Protection has worked on developing and implementing family control over the dangers that their children may face as a result of the negative utilization of the internet. The committee has also worked on raising children’s awareness about the dangers that they may face, organizingrelevant media campaigns and academic training programs. In cooperation with the concerned authorities, these programs improved awareness levels about the dangers of information technologies crimes, specifically those related to the exploitation of children through the internet.
For his part, Lieutenant Colonel Faisal Mohammed Al Shammari,Director of the Child Protection Center at the Ministry of Interior, explained that global estimates suggest that e-gamers spend an average of 8 hours per week playing games online. Other estimates indicate that daily average sleeping hours have decreased by two to three hours over the past ten years.
Warning against modern technologies that are not regulated, Dr. Mahmoud Majid Al Kubaisi, from the College of Law at Al Ain University of Science and Technology, said: “I believe that it is a crime to leave teenagersalone with their smartphones in their rooms or in the streets. It is also negligent to give teenagers unlimited access to the internet all day and all night.”
Dr. Al Kubaisi ca
