School subjects like Life Orientation (LO) can go a long way in fostering awareness of young people’s online rights, as well as equipping them with digital and media literacy skills.
This is according to Phakamile Madonsela, public and media skills development manager at Media Monitoring Africa (MMA), in an interview with ITWeb TV.
Madonsela spoke to ITWeb TV to mark Safer Internet Day, as part of a discussion on the protection of young people in the digital environment, policies, capacitating young people with digital and media literacy skills, as well as the increase in digital harms they continue to face.
When talking about protection of young people in the digital environment, Madonsela notes this extends to protection against mis- and disinformation, inappropriate content and keeping them safe when it comes to the online space.
She believes digital and media literacy skills play a key role in this regard, which is why MMA has been running its Web Rangers project for several years.
“Web Rangers has been designed to help young people understand the rights they have online, but also the responsibility that they have online. It helps to embody this concept of becoming active digital citizens, which means I can be online but not infringe on others’ rights to be online.
“The programme started in 2016 and is currently run in five provinces across the country, with more than 10 000 learners trained, as well as training of school governing bodies, teachers and representative councils of learners,” said Madonsela.
“This is to allow teachers to integrate some of the modules from our digital and media literacy curriculum into the classroom. For example, if a teacher is talking about bullying, they can add in a component of cyber bullying – what does it mean to be bullied online, how does it happen, and what are the tools young people can use to protect themselves.”
Although the initiative is run in conjunction with various stakeholders in business and tech, Madonsela believes it can be amplified by adding it to a school subject like LO.
Part of the Department of Basic Education’s definition of LO is that it is a subject that “guides and prepares learners for life, and for its responsibilities and possibilities. The subject addresses knowledge, values, attitudes and skills about the self, the environment, responsible citizenship, a healthy and productive life, social engagement, recreation and physical activity, and career choices.”
She explained: “Since 2016, we’ve been advocating for the integration of digital and media literacy into the LO subject, or in the curricula. If it’s not Life Orientation, it can be another subject. This is so that young people are exposed to concepts like active digital citizenship, digital footprint, the power of using a cellphone, etc.
“This is to help young people understand the power of the online space and their devices; they can use it to hone their talents or set themselves 100 years back. They need to hear this every single day; they need to hear it in connection to Life Orientation…it needs to be embedded into the schooling curricula.”
Balancing act
South Africa has several policies to help figure out children’s digital rights. For example, there is the Protection of Personal Information Act and the Constitution that cover how to embed policies within the digital rights space for children.
However, Madonsela highlighted the tricky nature of balancing the protection and participation of children in the online space. “It is their right to participate, but it’s also their right to be protected when they are online.”
Young people are generally aware of the concept of rights, but their understanding of rights doesn’t automatically extend to the digital world, she noted.
“That is why it is so important to help them understand that ‘your right to safety when you walk on the street, you’re entitled to that same right when you’re online on any social media platform.
“When you have a beautiful experience online, the expectation should be that ‘I have the right to be safe while I’m online’. They have a basic understanding of what these rights are, based on their previous knowledge about rights.”
As a result, MMA has tried to bridge the gap between knowing basic rights and digital rights, helping young people understand their rights, and working to balance the promotion and protection of their digital rights when they’re online.
“Bona Bana”, which means ‘see the children’, is among the other projects the organisation facilitates, she said.
It aims to encourage the need for media to prioritise young people’s rights in the digital world, ensure they are not left behind and have the skills, knowledge and capacity to participate effectively as leaders in the digital environment.
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