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FLOW Safer Internet Day 2020 Teen Summit:

Students engaged to help fix harmful online issues

Published:Friday | February 14, 2020 | 12:00 AM
Stephen Price, Flow Jamaica country manager, and students from the St Hilda’s High School for Girls are engrossed with content on his tablet during the FLOW Safer Internet Day summit.

Young people are being urged to “play their part in fixing” problems associated with “harmful things and harmful people lurking on the Internet”.

The call to action comes from Stephen Price, country manager, Flow Jamaica, speaking at the FLOW Safer Internet Day 2020 Teen Summit, at Merl Grove High School on Constant Spring Road in Kingston.

Addressing the over 600 students from 15 high schools in the Corporate Area, St Ann, St Thomas and St Catherine, Price strongly advised that as a means of protecting themselves, to “keep your social media profile private; be careful about the personal information that you share when making new friends online or inadvertently through photographs and videos; and not doing anything online that will make others feel intimidated, hurt or embarrassed”.

He shared how his experiences as country manager of the telecommunications firm and a father of three have sharpened his awareness of the numerous pitfalls and benefits that come with Internet usage, and warned students to use it responsibly.

“At FLOW, we are serious about ensuring that all users, regardless of age, can access technology and have the know-how to use it responsibly.”

Verol Billet, clinical psychologist, speaking at the session, also warned parents to look out for the signs of ‘Internet Trauma’. This can include irritable or unsettled behaviour, tendencies of addiction and even more harmful, self-harm or suicidal behaviour.

The telecommunications provider, through its FLOW Foundation, is also staging a tour of primary schools across the island with the aim of informing students about the ‘SMART’ rules for online safety and how to escalate problematic matters on the Internet to a responsible adult.

FLOW has embarked on an educational tour of primary schools across the island and is aiming to train another 500 students by the end of this month.