Tuesday 8 February 2011:
Major General Al Nuaimi: Adolescents’ behavior in virtual world affects their real-world identities
The Ministry of Interior represented by the Higher Committee for Child Protection, and Telecommunication Regulatory Authority celebrate Safer Internet Day for promotion of safe use of internet under the theme of safer internet, which coincide the February the 8th .
Major general Nasser Lekhrebani Al Nuaimi, secretary general of the Office of HH Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Head of the Higher Committee for Child Protection at the Ministry of Interior said that,” the Higher Committee for Child Protection and a number of bodies participating in the event adopts the theme of “It's more than a game, it's your life”, with the aim of making children and teenagers realize that their behavior in this virtual world can affect their real lives even if they try to conceal their real identities behind nicknames.
He added that, “ the ages of children who use the internet are decreasing day by day, pointing out that the technology generation of today is younger that that of yesterday. Almost half of them use the internet for an average of around one hour daily. Many of them feel relaxed or tolerant to express their personalities in the virtual digital environment as opposed to the real live.
As part of the initiatives of the higher committee which include in its membership the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice, Telecommunication Regulatory Authority, Emirates Identity Authority, Family Development Foundation, and Etisalat, the Higher Committee for Child Protection promotes a Yahoo Safely’s localised online safety resource. It aims at educating young people to choose the internet files, so that these files may become part of the educational and awareness program in the UAE.
On the other hand, Lt Colonel Faisal Al Shammari, member and rapporteur of the Higher Committee for Child Protection explained that international estimates indicate that internet games users spend 8 hours daily. Other estimates affirm that children sleeping rate has decreased by two to three hours compared to what it was ten years ago.
He affirmed keenness of the committee on disseminating the concept of safe use of the internet, and believes that the ideal way to promote awareness of safe internet use is to reach and educate children at an early age.
He said that the committee, seeking to develop a variety of programs that help enhance the best online practices, found that Yahoo! Safety Oasis a new and appropriate method to publish and promote in the United Arab Emirates, so that it could be introduced at the end of the day as part of internet and computer learning programs.
On the other hand, head of product marketing for Yahoo! Maktoob, Andy Abbar, said that, “we are delighted to see the higher committee of child protection adopting our programs this way. While online traffic is increasing across the Middle East, awareness of online safety issues is relatively low in the region.
“ Our aim was to provide a valuable resource to educate youngsters on digital literacy as early as possible”, she added.
Yahoo! Safety Oasis (http://esafe.yahoo.com/), which was developed by the Yahoo! Maktoob team, educates Arabic speaking children about how to properly surf the net and protect their personal privacy through a series of fun, interactive edutainment courses offered through a number of Yahoo! Maktoob channels such as Kids, Games, and Family links.
Yahoo! Safety Oasis comes as part of the global Yahoo! Safely site (safely.yahoo.com), which is designed to
