Special syllabus on cyber use from primary school is vital to prevent pornographic exposure
MUHAMMAD AMNAN HIBRAHIM
SHAH ALAM - Early childhood education on the use of the internet is vital to ensure youths, including primary school students, understand the dangers of watching pornographic content.
Malaysian Cyber Users Association President Siraj Jalil said a special syllabus on cyber use should be taught in schools to educate children on ethics and proper guidelines in using the internet and gadgets.
He said enforcement measures and restrictions on pornographic content alone were not enough because the nature of the cyberspace was very open and difficult to be fully controlled by the government.
“Education is very important because we have been 'living' in the cyber world for too long without any clear guidelines.
"These children needs to exposed to what can and cannot be done on the internet from the moment they have access to it, mainly in primary school level.
"With this foundation, they can know what is good and what is bad when they access to the internet.
"Because of this exposure, the children may indirectly know that something is not good or may be ashamed to look at the thing (pornography)," he said.
Siraj explained that the user education syllabus should also involve elements related to sexual education that children need to know suitable to their age group.
He said the importance of consumer or user education was also vital nowadays as almost all parents expose their children to gadgets at a very young age.
