Dana Haidan, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Vodafone Qatar. Pic: Baher Amin / The Peninsula
Parents in Qatar are more concerned now when it comes to child safety online as children get increasingly connected with the digital world, according to Dana Haidan, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Vodafone Qatar.
In an exclusive interview with The Peninsula, Haidan said a study undertaken by Vodafone, which became the basis for AmanTECH, revealed that parents from various nationalities in Qatar had the same level of concern when it came to child safety online.
“We did a focused group research with about 300 parents here from different nationalities, and we noticed the concern level was the same across all nationalities,” said Haidan, adding they also found some parents to be also concerned on how children’s personalities were different in real life and online.
Vodafone has been actively involved in raising awareness on online safety as children are now always connected, thus it launched in 2014 AmanTECH, a digital parenting programme.
“This online safety programme is something we started because of the huge worry and concern of parents when it comes to the ever-evolving digital world, as well as the fact that many schools are now using iPad in place of books,” she explained.
“Children are learning more from apps than books. It has become clear that children are born in a digital world which is a fact of life that parents have to accept and deal with in a better way,” she added.
Haidan was speaking on the sidelines of Treasure Hunts held yesterday at Gulf Mall which is one of the key programmes under AmanTECH.
Treasure Hunts have proved effective and popular among parents because it is a departure from traditional educational workshops as parents solve puzzles on online safety together with their children. More than 2,500 families have taken part in this programme since its launch in March 2015.
“We also have a program called Connected Families which is an interactive workshop with different stations tackling crucial issues about online child safety. In order to understand the concept, parents have to work together in an activity where they need to solve an issue together.”
Among the important concepts tacked are digital parenting, privacy, and online reputation and footprint.
Vodafone targets all the parents in 15 schools for the Connected Families programme this year, said Haidan.
As a further enhancement to AmanTECH, a self-assessment tool for parents on online safety will also be launched in a couple of weeks, she added.
“It’s called “How safe is my child online?” in which they assess themselves regarding certain skills related to online safety. After the quiz, they get a customised report on exactly the areas where they are good at and where they need to improve, in addition to where they go for advice,” she explained.
“We also have an online platform which is the AmanTECH website we developed with parenting experts in Europe to put together excellent content for parents, which has everything on online child safety. I encourage parents to visit our website and use the resources available.”
Treasure Hunts run until today at Gulf Mall from 3pm to 10pm and from January 26 to 28 at Hyatt Plaza Mall. These activities will be held year round in various public places which families frequent.
"We will continue doing these activities to reach more and more parents. We also focus on reaching more schools this year because we want to link the programme as much as we can with the educational system," she said.
