Tech firm sensitises Ibadan teachers on cyber bullying, launches cyber hygiene app

Nigerian tech firm, Epower NG, on Friday, sensitised some teachers from selected secondary schools in Ibadan on the dangers and management of cyber bullying in the classroom.

The training, with the theme ‘Internet safety awareness training: How teachers can defeat cyber bullying using the Cyber Hygiene app’ was organised by Epower NG with support from Impact Amplifier and Google.

According to the founder and chief executive officer of Epower, Olugbenga Ogunbowale, the Cyber Hygiene App was built to combat cyber bullying in schools by gamifying internet safety education; empowering students, parents, teachers, schools and governments; and ultimately raising a generation of digitally responsible students and teenagers. 

Ogunbowale stated that cyber bullies harass their targets, who are mostly teenagers and young children, through social media, email, SMS, and chat apps. 

He stressed that cyber bulling is difficult to notice and to control because it is persistent, permanent, and anonymous. 

“It is permanent because the internet is permanent. What you post now on the internet, unless you delete it, will still be there in the next five, ten years,” he said. “So, do not post anything that is private or that you do not want people to see online.”

He added that cyber bullying menace knows no race, colour, gender, age, and geography; and therefore, requires innovative ways by parents, teachers, schools, and the society to tackle it.

In the course of the session, Ogunbowale spoke on why and how cyber bullying occur, tactics and medium cyber bullies adopt, the common signs and characteristics of cyber-bullied victims, and how cyber bulling can be managed and tackled.

According to him, some of the ways to report and manage cyber bullying is by not responding to or forwarding cyber-bulling contents; keeping evidence of bullying, blocking accounts of cyber bullies; and reporting cyber bullying to internet/social media providers, schools, and law enforcement officers.

While speaking on the Cyber Hygiene app, Ogunbowale demonstrated the ease of using the app. He said the app contains games, spelling bees, videos, transcripts of lessons and other interactive features that will enable students and young people to learn about internet safety while having fun. 

He added that the app will also motivate students to be digitally literate, since it involves the use of smartphones and digital contents.

He enjoined teachers and parents to be social media savvy and to make sure they are abreast of the content, sites and apps their teenagers use. He advised teachers to be kind, open and assertive when communicating with teenagers on matters relating to cyber bullying.

In the course of the session, some of the teachers present shared their personal and classroom experiences on cyber bullying and how they are managing the menace in their schools.

Some of the 15 schools represented at the event were Zion international School, Louisville Nursery and Primary School, De-Essence Academy, Livingstone College of Arts and Science, among others.