BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – YESTERDAY (May 17), Telecommunication and Information Society Day was celebrated around the world with a focus on “Protecting Children in Cyberspace” amid the call the calls for free access to information.
The day has been celebrated annually since 1969 and marks the founding of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention in 1865. The day had since been marked to help to raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the internet and other information and communication technologies (ICT) can bring to societies and economies, as well as finding solutions to bridge the digital divide.
In an exclusive interview with SKNVibes, Director of Information and Communication Technologies Wesley Wharton said this year’s theme aims at ensuring that children can safely access the internet and its valuable resources without fear of falling prey to “dangerous or harmful information”.
He added that the theme is very timely as all primary and secondary schools and even community centres now have internet access. But he however warned that there must be restrictions in order to ensure that children are protected.
“One has to balance both areas. As much as we want our children to access information, we don’t want them to access harmful information or to utilise sites that can damage the computers.
Our children are susceptible just as children elsewhere, are and if you have an environment where young persons are exposed to that much information such protection becomes a great concern,” said Wharton.
The ICT Director underscored the importance of supervision in the school ICT labs and community centres while the Department continues to work on a technical solution to block unscrupulous sites.
“It is a concern with our schools and community centres. We are putting together filters to disallow access to inappropriate sites. Until that is done, teachers need to be reminded to take charge in the labs. And even in the home, where there is increased access to information through computers and cell phones, people must be responsible,” Wharton said.
