Aiming to encourage children to be confident online explorers while avoiding potential cybersecurity pitfalls, Google has launched “Abtal Al Internet” (Internet Heroes) initiative in Arabic, a free online platform full of learning resources and interactive activities on online safety for kids, parents and educators. This move seems in line with Google’s Be Internet Awesome initiative launched last year.
Children now access the internet at very young ages and are vulnerable to online predators and scams whether it be on social media or online games. To that effort, Abtal Al Internet is designed to teach kids the fundamentals of digital citizenship and safety and help them confidently navigate the online world by being smart, alert, strong, kind and brave.
Also part of the online learning program is an online adventure, A’lam al Internet (Interland), that allows kids to develop good digital habits such as not sharing information online to those they don’t trust, building strong passwords, staying away from fake profiles and phishing scams, being kind to others online and reporting inappropriate content.
According to Google’s survey, majority of teachers in the Arab world believe that online safety should be part of curriculum and have reportedly witnessed concerning online incidents. To that end, Abtal Al Internet aims to provide guidance for educators and parents to teach kids about digital safety in homes as well as classrooms through videos, activities and more.
The program has been developed in collaboration with online safety experts including Family Online Safety Institute, the Internet Keep Safe Coalition and ConnectSafely. It can be accessed here: g.co/abtalinternet
