Teaching kids to outsmart the online Wild West

Initiative targets 4k students, parents, with training on online fraud

KARACHI:

In a bid to help children navigate the digital world without falling prey to its dangers, Zindagi Trust, in partnership with Meta and Durbeen, has launched a province-wide online safety and digital literacy programme for students, parents and teachers, focusing on identifying online threats, protecting privacy and using technology responsibly.

The programme, titled Samajh Bhi, Safety Bhi, was launched at SMB Fatima Jinnah Government School in Karachi with support from the Sindh government. It will offer practical training sessions for teenagers aged 13 to 18 and their parents, while Durbeen will incorporate online safety education into its teacher-training programme to equip future educators to guide students in the digital environment.

At least 4,000 students and parents have already received online safety awareness training during the programme's initial phase, according to the organisers.

Speaking at the launch, Zindagi Trust founder and president Shehzad Roy stressed that training teachers was essential to protecting children online, enabling them to guide students towards safer use of digital platforms.

Sindh Minister for Information Technology Ali Rashid said digital transformation was not simply about connecting people to technology but also equipping them to use it safely, responsibly and effectively.