PHUKET: A seminar focused on educating children and parents on the consumption and potential dangers of social media and online content was held in Rawai on Thursday (June 8).
The Phuket Juvenile and Family Court organised the 2nd edition of the project entitled “Online threats are more dangerous than you think” at the gymnasium at Muang Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization School, in Rawai, presided over by Paitoon Chotchaipong, Chief Judge of the Phuket Juvenile and Family Court.
Judge Paitoon was joined by Anupap Wetvanichsanong, Deputy President of the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization (PPAO or OrBorJor), selected heads of government departments, educational personnel and local students and parents, totalling 500 people in total.
Mr Arnupap explained that exchanges and consumption of information is changing rapidly as technology continues to evolve and the “social network” becomes such a dominant factor that can impact people’s lives so significantly.
He added that statistics highlight Thai youngsters spend a significant amount of their time on social media platforms through phones, tablets and laptops, with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Line and Instagram the most popular sites, a trend that will continue to rise.
Mr Anupap cautioned that a lot of the negative aspects that are increasingly witnessed in today’s society can be directly attributed to various forms of online media as many children are exposed and become addicted to games depicting violent content, to pornography that can lead to sexual harrassment and to gambling sites which can lead to them becoming hooked at an early age. All such content can have a powerfully persuasive influence on young people which can lead to cyberbullying among peers, depression and even suicide, something Mr Anupap collectively labelled a “silent threat”.
Consequently, he stressed the importance of authorities and parents taking a robust approach to monitoring and evaluating what sort of content is accessed while educating children on the potential dangers of any misinformation and cyber threats that they may come across.
All parties are respeonsible for the attitudes and behaviours of children and young people and must therefore work together to manage the access and consumption of online content in an appropriate manner.
This will benefit not only the children directly but their families, wider society and, ultimately, the health and future of the nation, Mr Anupap concluded.
