HÀ NỘI — Children can learn how to protect themselves and embrace cyber civility though diverse interactive activities taking place at the Children's Palace in Hà Nội.

The activities are among the Online Safety Playground event organised by Google on the occasion of International Children's Day (June 1), aiming to raise awareness and enhance knowledge on self-protection and courtesy in the online environment for children and parents.

A girl interacts with a game at the ‘Online Safety Playground’ event. — Photo courtesy of Google

As summer comes, children have more time to go online. According to a survey by the Department of Children's Affairs (Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs) in 2022, Vietnamese children are spending 5-7 hours a day on social networks. Vietnamese children must be equipped with essential skills and knowledge on selecting healthy, age-appropriate information for themselves. Moreover, parents in Viet Nam have become more concerned about their children’s online safety, and 64.1 per cent of parents have sought to improve their technological knowledge in order to teach their children about this topic, according to a survey by Google in 2023.

The ‘Online Safety Playground’ event includes a discussion providing parents with comprehensive information on the topic of online safety for children. — Photo courtesy of Google

Understanding the practical needs of Vietnamese families, a discussion has been organised at the Online Safety Playground event to provide parents with comprehensive information on the topic of online safety for children. Featuring the family of the movie producer Lý Hải - Minh Hà, educational experts, and a Google representative, the discussion focused on improving parents' skills and equipping them with knowledge about Internet safety, so that they are capable of guiding their children to effectively experience the online environment, especially in the summer when children spend more time on the Internet.

Alongside the discussion targeting parents, at the event, an interactive playground for children has also been introduced with many fun games, providing them with knowledge, while building up their self-protection skills and online courtesy.

Family of the movie producer Lý Hải - Minh Hà are special guests of the ‘Online Safety Playground’ event. — Photo courtesy of Google

This is also the first time educational games from the "Be Internet Awesome - Safer with Google" project have been deployed offline, helping children learn five fundamental rules: Be Smart - Be Alert - Be Strong - Be Kind - Be Brave while playing familiar games online.

At the same time, parents can experience many helpful content management applications such as YouTube Kids, YouTube Family Link, and YouTube SupeX. They will learn how to direct their children toward healthy content, and set restrictions to prevent children from accessing inappropriate content.

“Through the Online Safety Playground playground, Google and YouTube are committed to continuing to expand the programme to more schools, teachers, and students this year, thereby helping more children gain great benefits from the Internet in a safer space,” said Marc Woo, Managing Director for Việt Nam, Google APAC. — VNS