Digital Era: Internet Awareness

TRISHA ILAR

Undoubtedly, this pandemic brought big changes especially on our technology. We opted to advance and adapt faster to technology than usual. The face-to-face activities are now usually held online to support lockdowns. One of the affected ones are the education of the kids and teens. Through the internet, they can use different platforms to learn more and as a part of means to communicate to the teacher as well. As we know, internet can be a double edged sword as it can harm in different conditions if not handled properly.

Since there are many ways to connect and to contact people in the internet, there are also many ways that it can be used for deceiving people. One of challenges that could be faced by the user is phishing. It refers to a deception wherein the scammer will ask or for the personal information like email address, passwords, and others. This can be done through messages, email, and website that looks reliable but isn't. An example of this is the scamming of many BDO Unibank users through illegal transfer to the UnionBank account of Mark Nagoyo wherein Nagoyo means to make a fool out of someone.

With this incident, it is good to take note of security measures. First is to always have a strong passwords. This does not only applies to adults account holder but also to the kids and teens as they will bring this habit of securing themselves when they grow up. An example of this is to think of a phrase containing whatever description you want and unusual numbers you are familiar of but not with others. Then, the initial letters of the phrase can be used and varying the capital and small letters depending on the pattern you want together with the numbers you have thought of a while ago. After securing the passwords, one can be cautious of instant messages, calls, and emails containing the questions about one's personal information. Lastly, make the kids and teens aware of the secured sites by telling them to check the upper search bar if there is a lock icon that means the website is secured.

Another problem that arise is piracy which refers to act of sharing copyrighted content illegally. It is important for the young ones to carefully write rightful credits to the owners and to seek permission of the owners of the materials before sharing it to other people. Citation tools can be used for writing references for projects to avoid plagiarism or offense of copying someone else's work as well.

Cyber-stalking and cyber-bullying can also be encountered on internet specifically usual in social media platforms. Both can refer to any kind of threatening or humiliation to another user that causes irritation and fear to the victim. It is good to remind youth that even the simple act of sharing an embarrassing picture of a friend without permission can already affect the person who is in the picture. It might cause insecurity to the victim. Also, name-calling and embarrassing someone can be subjective to a lawfully punishment when reported. Thus, when victims ever encounter this kinds of actions, he or she can report or block the perpetrator.

Another to be remind of is to be careful of sharing too much information through posts in social media. Posting too much information can be beneficial to predators in the internet. For example, a teen who posted of the information of being alone at the home can give a hint to thieves on who will be their next target will be. Therefore, addresses and contact numbers should not be shared in the social media platforms so that the identity is hidden from the predators. Also, sharing too much information can be used by someone to make a dummy account of the victim and destroy his or her reputation. One way to protect oneself is to make one's media into private mode.

These are just some of the challenges that can be met by kids and teens while using the internet. It is given that internet provides people a place to learn, interact, discover, and play. With its vast capability, it is necessary for people may it be young or adult to be responsible netizens where everyone can maximize fully this good opportunity. Being alert and vigilant all the time in the use of internet can help prevent these possible problems. Parents and guardians too have the responsibility of being the role model for their children so they can take measures like talking to their children and monitoring the activities without stepping over the line. [R]