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THE kingdom's schools are hoping to join hands with parents to encourage responsible 'netizenship' amongst children.
The British School of Bahrain has planned information evenings, workshops and discussion groups to help mums and dads to manage issues concerning digital literacy and cyber safety.
This follows a Telecommunications Regulatory Authority's (TRA) initiative to conduct a study on the use of information communications technology (ICT) particularly among children and to identify potential risks.
Around 3,000 students from across the country are taking part in the review, which is being held for the first time in Bahrain. It is being conducted by British digital forensics and online abuse experts, Professor Julia Davidson and Dr Elena Martellozzo, and will be managed locally by Bahrain University's Dr Khalid Al Mutawah.
Karen Moffat, deputy director of the British School of Bahrain, said that teachers and pupils in the age group of seven to 17 had taken part in focus groups interviews conducted by the experts. The school has also held separate assemblies in the junior and senior school on what students need to be careful about on social networking sites.
"We have come across a lot of problems among students who are as young as 11 and 12," said Mrs Moffat. "They write nasty comments about each other and we also have had cases of bullying and even identity theft on the Facebook site, for example. We have had children inappropriately disclosing private and personal information that has got them into difficulty.
"It is another form of bullying; only now the bullies have a very effective channel and it is fascinating how the internet provides them with opportunities to target victims. It is easy to write something and send it. Even senior students spew their anger over the net ... the thing is, if the internet was not there they would probably kick a bag and shout insults. Now the abuse is up there and visible."
Disclosing private information like phone numbers, school details, friends and photographs can invite all kinds of trouble ... even the most extreme kind such as falling prey to paedophiles, kidnappers and robbers.
Mrs Moffat said: "We have to protect our children and convince them to play safe. The TRAI initiative has come at a great time and these issues can only be solved with a home-school partnership. Saying it to the pupils once is not enough. We have to keep reminding them."
However many dangers the internet poses, the solution, she reiterates, does not lie in banning children from using the technology. Children need to be taught to protect themselves and they need to be educated about the responsibilities and obligations of being a good 'netizen'. Protecting children in a digital world is as important as it is in the real world, she said.
"They need to be taught to be good citizens; to be thoughtful, respectful and with academic integrity; to be moral, ethical and careful of their and others' property," she added. "It is a new world in a way and so we have to translate those things that we understand in other parts of our lives into that world. A lot of things are common but it is a new language and we need to immerse ourselves in it to understand it."
Some of the dangers associated with internet include a form of 'sexting' where children post semi-nude pictures of themselves. This could be a result of bullying where children dare each other to do something inappropriate. And, unless encouraged to talk, children tend to hide their mistakes from their parents.
Mrs Moffat said: "On one side we can get frightened and will want to stop and exclude children from using social networks. But, we should not stop them because it is the world we live in. As much as this is the downside it is also the reverse of the very positive side. We have access to an immense amount of information and the key advantage of this technology is connectivity.
"But, without giving the children adequate information, we are letting them on the internet. It is like letting them walk in a potentially dangerous environment without any advice on how to behave or how to protect themselves.
"There are plenty of children who have nothing much to do except play on their Xboxes and so on. Many are avid users of 'Second Life' that is a game that deals in a virtual world. It is very exciting but it can also be a seriously dangerous world, even for adults.
"You have a name and a creature or person that represents you and you meet other people ... but you don't know who they are. These are hugely addictive. For these children this is their world and for them the distinction between the virtual world and real world is sometimes blurred."
