Enculturation of Cyber Safety Awareness for Communities in South Africa

The rate of technological development across the globe is dramatic. The decreasing cost and increasing availability of ICT devices means that its users are no longer exclusively industry or government employees – they are now also home users. Home users integrate ICT in their daily lives for education, socialising and information gathering. However, using ICT is associated with risks and threats, such as identity theft and phishing scams. Most home users of ICT do not have the necessary information technology and Internet skills to protect themselves and their information. School learners, in particular, are not sufficiently educated on how to use technological devices safely, especially in developing countries such as South Africa. The national school curriculum in South Africa currently does not make provision for cyber-safety education, and the availability of supporting material and training for ICT teachers in South Africa is limited, resulting in a lack of knowledge and skills regarding cyber-safety. The research in hand focuses on the situation concerning cyber-safety awareness in schools and has adopted a short-term approach towards cyber-safety among teachers and school learners in South Africa until a formal long-term national approach has been implemented. This study takes a quantitative approach to investigating the current options of teachers to enhance cyber-safety among learners in their schools. The research proposes that short-term initiatives (i.e. posters) can increase learners’ awareness of cyber-safety until formal cyber-safety awareness methods have been introduced.

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Enhancing cyber safety awareness among school children in South Africa through gaming

2015 Science and Information Conference (SAI) ◽

10.1109/sai.2015.7237303 ◽

2015 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

E. Kritzinger

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

School Children ◽

Safety Awareness ◽

Cyber Safety

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Cyber Safety Awareness and Culture Planning in South Africa

Cyberspace Safety and Security - Lecture Notes in Computer Science ◽

10.1007/978-3-030-01689-0_25 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 317-326

Author(s):

E. Kritzinger ◽

M. Loock ◽

E. N. Mwim

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Safety Awareness ◽

Cyber Safety

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Growing a cyber-safety culture amongst school learners in South Africa through gaming

South African Computer Journal ◽

10.18489/sacj.v29i2.471 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Elmarie Kritzinger

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Safety Culture ◽

Internet Access ◽

Identity Theft ◽

Cyber Bullying ◽

The Internet ◽

Short Term ◽

Safety Awareness ◽

Cyber Safety

Virtually all school learners today have access to ICT devices and the internet at home or at school. More and more schools are using ICT devices to improve education in South Africa. ICT devices and internet access have enormous advantages and assist learners in learning and teachers in teaching more successfully. However, with these advantages come numerous ICT and cyber-risks and threats that can harm learners, for example cyber-bullying, identity theft and access to inappropriate material. Currently, South Africa does not have a long-term plan to grow a cyber-safety culture in its schools. This research therefore proposes a short-term initiative in the form of a game-based approach, which will assist school learners in becoming more cyber safe and teach learners about the relevant cyber-related risks and threats. The research is based on a quantitative survey that was conducted among primary school learners to establish if the game-based approach would be a feasible short-term initiative. The aim of the research is to establish if a game based approach can be used to improve cyber-safety awareness. This approach was plotted into the required ICT and cyber-safety policy required by all schools.

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