The explosive growth of the Internet makes it easy for us to access and find information on applications and online search engines. Children are now also exposed to cyberspace every day, at a very young age. However, besides healthy, valuable knowledge in study and life, a lot of harmful information is also spread on social networks, has not been effectively controlled, negatively affecting awareness and behavior. movement, especially the safety of teenagers and children.

Without the necessary skills to protect themselves, many children have become victims of online violence and insults. Therefore, equipping digital skills is the most effective measure to ensure children's safety when participating in cyberspace.

Data from the National Child Protection Hotline - No. 111 Department of Children (Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs) shows that last year, the Hotline received 419 reports related to child protection. in the online environment (including 398 consultation cases and 21 intervention cases related to channels, links, and clips that are bad and harmful to children).

At the same time, Report on Preventing Harmful Behavior in Vietnam - Evidence of online child sexual exploitation and abuse by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), International Organization to End Exploitation child sexual abuse (ECPAT) and the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) in 2022 showed that 23% of children aged 12 to 17 who used the internet and participated in the survey said they had accidentally looked at found sensitive images or videos online in the past year (12 months before the survey), 5% had received unwanted sensitive images, 1% of children had sensitive images shared without their consent. Italy, 2% were asked to talk about sex...

What is of concern is that the majority of children who said they had been sexually abused online did not disclose the exploitation and abuse to anyone, or only told a friend. Very few children said they told a caregiver and/or an official channel, such as the police or a helpline…

This was also discussed at the seminar "Internet Safety Day 2023 - Protecting young people and teenagers from harmful sexual content in the online environment", recently organized in response to Internet Safety Day.

At this event, Deputy Director of the Department of Children Nguyen Thi Nga raised the issue that nowadays, many young people and teenagers, when exposed to harmful sexual content, often choose to stay silent and let it go when they encounter problems. speak up, report and seek support, afraid to seek support and reception channels...

Therefore, Ms. Hoang Thu Giang (Department of Information Security, Ministry of Information and Communications) emphasized the need for a solution.

For example, parents can use a number of harmful content filtering solutions to protect their children. Technical solutions will help users proactively adapt to online risks in a timely manner.

According to Ms. Giang, currently, applications, platforms, and social networks have many tools to help users control harmful and unsafe content when using the internet.

"We have also been making efforts to expand channels for users to report harmful content, supporting users when facing safety risks in the online environment. Users can find the following resources: Channels such as the National Child Protection Hotline 111, police agencies at all levels or call hotline 113, the Network for Responding and Protecting Children in the Online Environment, etc. However, this is still just a response solution.

To "establish a shield" to protect children and teenagers in the internet space environment, the most important thing is to constantly equip them with knowledge and skills to help them identify safe interactions, Unsafe interactions can be prevented. Raising awareness and educating skills about using the network safely is the most perfect way to protect" - Ms. Hoang Thu Giang emphasized.

Bao Ngan