I-CAFÉ PILIPINAS » online child safety

Facebook To Promote Online Child Safety

Admin — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 06:04:42 +0000

Facebook, the world’s largest online social networking site, and a national parents-teachers’ association in the United States of America will work together to build a program to provide information and support about issues on online child safety such as cyberbullying, good online citizenship and Internet security. The social networking site with the cooperation of the US National PTA will promote Internet safety through a set of tools and resources for kids, schools and parents. The partnership has just started so officials do not have much details yet on what kinds of resources they plan to offer on their respective websites and through other means.

Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt said the plan is not just to educate kids about being on Facebook, but about being online. He said “the sooner we can get instilling responsible behavior, the better.” The PTA will reach out to local parent-teacher groups to promote the program, while Facebook plans to do the same on its site.

Anne Collier, co-director of Connectsafely.org, a forum about online safety issues, said the deal combining Facebook’s broad reach and the PTA’s relationship with schools and parents is commendable. “Citizenship online and offline needs to be a part of the child’s life,” she said. “It needs to be taught at school and at home — it’s not just a digital thing.”

I-Café Pilipinas as the national advocacy body of the Internet café industry in the country has online child safety in its program of instilling social responsibility among its constituents. The organization looks forward to the implementation and success of the collaboration being spearheaded by Facebook.

Online Child Safety In I-Cafés

Admin — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 07:07:09 +0000

By: Ed Zafra

Online child safety in i-cafés is a sub-theme of the Second Mindanao Internet Café Associations Summit (2nd MICAS) which will be held on February 18 and 19, 2010 at The Event Centre of SM City in Davao City. While the subject is overused or even abused by so many organizations, the organizers of 2nd MICAS decided to go on and have it as a sub-theme and be a topic of discussion on the second day of the summit. I-Café Pilipinas and its co-organizer, the Internet Café Association of Davao (ICAD) Inc. believe that no amount of discussions can make online child safety as passé. The importance of the subject on the development of the minds of current young online computer users will not make it a redundant topic even if discussed in forums many times over.

We recognize the fact that ECPAT International has the elimination of child prostitution, child pornography and the trafficking of children for sexual purposes as its prime objective. Also, many local government units already have ordinances aimed at preventing access to pornographic sites thereby protecting the young customers of i-cafés as they enter the premises and use the internet for their education and entertainment. The Philippines, as a nation has recently passed the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009 which we fully support except for its provision mandating web filtering at ISP level. The question is, are these initiatives and measures enough to protect the children online?

We may differ in our opinions on how can we assure the safety of the children going online. Anti-pornography filters and the like may do its work of preventing the children from accessing unwanted sites but is this enough? Should we allow the children to access and play those violent hackenslash online games? Must you just allow them to do social networking with people they meet online? Isn’t parental watch and guidance needed as the children surf the net? These and many more question on online child safety will be the issues that the participants of the 2nd MICAS will discuss so please come and share us your views on the subject.

2nd MICAS To Define Online Child Safety In I-Cafés

Admin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 06:10:40 +0000

By: Gener Morada

Once again in February 18 and 19, 2010 the officials of the different internet café associations and internet cafe operators in Mindanao will converge in SM City Davao for the Second Mindanao Internet Café Association Summit (2^nd MICAS). Much like the First MICAS that was held in 2007, the Internet Café Association of Davao headed by its president Mr. Adolfo Solanor will take the lead in organizing this year’s gathering.

“The 2nd MICAS with the theme, Bringing the Benefits of Information and Communications Technology to the People of Mindanao through the Internet Cafes, would definitely be Bigger, Better and Bolder this year”, stressed by Mr. Solanor. “Bigger in terms of participants as we bring together the different internet café associations and other stakeholders in the ICT industry in Mindanao. Better for what we are offering are two simultaneous events an ICT Trade Exhibit that will showcase the latest advances in computer hardware, software and internet related services. The other is the workshop of the officials of the internet café associations and operators to come up with an action plan that would further the development of the internet cafes industry in Mindanao. Bolder as the participants set their goals as they claim their leadership in ICT access at the community level”, Mr. Solanor added.

Since majority of the customers of internet cafes are children, the Second Mindanao Internet Cafe Associations Summit hopes to be the venue for the adoption of the “Davao Declaration On Online Child Safety” which will define the initiatives of the different internet cafe associations in the promotion of safe browsing by children in internet cafes. It hopes to become a forum in which discussions could be initiated that could lead to an increase in awareness of the great responsibility of internet cafe operators as ICT access centers at the community level in ensuring the online safety of their customers.

“It is an honor and a privilege for I-Café Pilipinas to be part of the team led by ICAD that would organize the 2nd MICAS in Davao City in February” Mr. Ed Zafra, Chair of I-Café Pilipinas, said. I-Café Pilipinas is the national organization composed mainly of the internet café associations and operators in the Philippines. “We truly believe that the Second MICAS will serve as a vehicle in the further development of the internet cafes as a leader in community ICT access for peace and development in Mindanao”, added by Mr. Zafra.

The Second Mindanao Internet Cafe Associations Summit is made possible with the support of the event partners of the Internet Cafe Association of Davao and I-Cafe Pilipinas. Intel Technology Philippines, the largest chip provider in the country, and the Genuine Equity for Mindanao (GEM), a USAID Project in Mindanao, as its Gold Event Partners. Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) and Department of Trade and Industries (DTI) are the Institutional Event Partners in the summit.