Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has joined hands with social networking giant Facebook to launch internet safety education programme in the country for students aged between 13-17 years.
The programme will train children, teachers and parents on how to reap maximum benefits from internet while not compromising on their safety and security, IAMAI and Facebook said in a joint statement today.
The campaign, which is focused on building community awareness on the issue, will also train educators and child safety NGOs about internet safety practices, it added.
As a part of the first phase, the programme will be rolled out across Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad to cover 18,000 students across about 30 schools and institutions, it added.
“IAMAI has been running the Safe Surfing campaign in India for past four years covering 6.25 lakh students across the country. We are delighted that Facebook has come forward to support this critical initiative and enrich the campaign with their global learnings,” IAMAI President Subho Ray said.
The programme will conclude with a national conference in New Delhi addressing online child safety issues later this year. The program will be extended to other Indian cities through 2014.
“Safety is an ongoing conversation between parents and kids, teachers and students, companies and the people who use the Internet. We encourage parents to have conversations about safety and technology early and often, in the same way that they talk to their kids about being safe at school, in the car, on public transportation or playing sport,” Facebook India Director of Public Policy Ankhi Das said.
Facebook will develop the content and training materials and translate the same in regional languages. As part of the partnership, Facebook safety specialists will work with IAMAI trainers on safety content and participate in these training programs.
Key presentations and events will be live streamed via www.facebook.com/FacebookIndia .
Facebook has already created a Safety Advisory Board that advises the company on safety issues. The members of that board are leading Internet safety organisations like Childnet international, Connect Safely, The Family Online Safety Institute, The National Network to End Domestic Violence and Wired Safety.