The Afigya Kwabre South District Assembly through the Department of Social Welfare and Community Development commemorated the International Safer Internet Day with the students at Heman Buoho Secondary Technical School. The 2024 edition of Safer Internet Day took place on Tuesday, 6 February 2024. This special celebration, which takes place in February of each year, aims to raise awareness of a safer and better internet for all, especially for children and young people.
The theme for the sensitisation programme was “Adolescent Online Safety” which is one of the Department’s crucial milestones in creating a safer digital world for children and young adults (adolescents) across the various educational institutions in the district.
As part of the several interventions being rolled out by the department for the implementation of the Integrated Social Services (ISS) programme in the district, the team engaged with the students on several topical issues including their safety with the use of the various online platforms.
The District Social Development Officer, Mr Cheslyn Nutsugah led a five-member team from the Department to visit the school as part of the programmes billed for their SRC week celebrations. The two-hour engagement was centred on some key areas which included; The available online threats & risks such as Cybergrooming, Sextortion, Cyberstalking, Cyberbullying, fake news and other online sexual predators.
The audience was cautioned to avoid sending out nude photos and videos of themselves to their partners to satisfy their sexual curiosities. This, they were advised could ruin the future of both parties who are involved in such an act; since things posted online today will come back tomorrow to haunt them. Thus “The internet never forgets”.
Emphasis on the details of the Cyber Security Act 2020 (Act 1038) was made bare and further expanded to address some real-life scenarios in the Ghanaian context to the students; Thus, the available implications or punitive measures to be metted out to persons involved in any of such offences were equally highlighted to the students. It was further explained that the law regulates and punishes persons involved in taking, circulating, and publishing naked and sexual images of persons online.
The session ended with an open discussion with the audience on tips to stay safe online and focus on other alternative usefulness of the various online platforms such as for research purposes (education), marketing, fashion, entertainment and networking were elaborated and the students were advised to focus more on the positive usefulness rather than those vices that have been enumerated to them earlier.
