Children and Cybersecurity
In commemoration of cybersecurity awareness month, I joined my team at CyberPlural to take Cybersecurity to school children. My experience was worth while and I deemed it fit to share.
We sent out letters to different schools in Abuja Nigeria and to our utmost dismay, only one gave us permission. Wow! Tithemi International School Lugbe, Abuja Nigeria gave us the permission to come share cybersecurity tips with children in classes 4 and 5.
First bad experience was that Google directed us to a wrong location. lol; my Nigerian peeps can relate. We later called the school director and he came to pick us at a landmark.
We signed in as guest and was taken to their creative hall, the school has a projector and they set it up. I was a little bit surprised to see a school with a projector (yesssss, no jokes).
The pupils came in with so much excitement and energy (I later heard that they have been notified about the program). The moral lesson I got here is eagerness, preparation and expectation will aid learning.
I was introduced by a colleague as the facilitator and I was surprised to hear the children define cybersecurity, told me they have either a mobile phone, laptop or desktop and that they enjoyed googling.
I taught them using the acronym SMART:
S — Safe: Keep safe and don’t give out your name, address, parent’s credit card details to strangers
M — Meeting: Don’t meet someone you met online without your parent guide
A — Accept: Don't accept email, instant message from stranger. Don't download attachment from such
R — Reliable: Becareful not to share unverified information online
T — Tell: If someone or something makes you uncomfortable online (a smart girl said Cyberbully), tell your parent or guardian.
I was impressed by the children’s intellect as displayed during cybersecurity game. Yes we did games together. They were so happy, joyfully snapped pictures together while they carried placards.
My final take on the journey is that schools should incorporate cybersecurity into their school curriculum. Lets build a cyber safe world from cradle. It was so fun filled and educative.
