Let’s give driving licenses to our 10-year-olds!
Psst: I am being sarcastic.
Recently we ran a two-week cyber programme for years 7–10s: a virtual session and a selection of students across the UK.
I gave them a bit of time to settle themselves in the introductory session but it started getting a bit chatty. I had to intercept and so hit them with a question “Did anyone have a driving license?”
I could sense a set of weird looks through the Teams – had it been an in-person session, I am sure they would’ve made some jokes, and things could have gotten a bit naughty. One of them sarcastically said, don’t you know we can’t get a license until we are 17?
I unhesitatingly retorted, “Well, you know to navigate the roads, the speed limits as well as the essential rules, shouldn’t they at least let you ride a motorcycle?”
One of them said, “We would love to, but who lets us? Also, even if they did, the law won’t let us…”
Another joined “Cars & Bikes zoom at high speed on the roads and even if the laws did, it may not be the right thing, and most importantly not safe for us or other road-users”
Waiting precisely for such a reply, I leaned in on that comment, “Well, if you are worried about safety at 70M/hour, shouldn’t you be worried about 80Mb/second?”
I could see puzzled looks, and I continued…
Though all of you have a basic idea about road safety and the speed limits, you are still concerned about driving as it could be hazardous.
But, how come many of you use various devices, get onto the internet highway at super high speeds (~80Mbps) without any sense of safety?
Welcome to your cybersecurity awareness programme!
An accident on the internet highway can be equally damaging and can impact severely both mentally and physically.
Am I making sense?
With so many careless adult drivers on the internet highway (not to forget rogue drivers, identity stealers, and data stalkers), how do we allow our kids to get on the same lane as those mentioned above, with no special guardrails and training?
All of us are proud of our broadband speeds and cruise via Chrome, Safari and whatnot — oblivious to the fact that the next generation is littering on the internet highways without any sense of the impact that it could have on their future lives. (While Google thinks it’s okay for 13-year-olds)
Well, we have our screen-time controls, and we can ‘control’ our kids, right?
These days, the kids can easily override such controls. No point in being a big brother here… So maybe Google is correct — however, we have a role to play in guiding the next generation appropriately.
Having PII and GDPR safeguards is akin to the motorway rules and guidelines, but do we ever guide/train them before giving the devices?
Where are the safety requirements for the under-aged? Where’s the practical training for better use of judgment in terms of e-safety?
Would it be okay to give a driving license to a 12-year-old? (it’s just a bigger sized battery car, right) – would we?
Needless to say our cybersecurity awareness programme was very well received!
Three cheers this week:
I didn’t spend much time at Medium, and there was the only one that caught my attention, and it was about Marriage & the framework of spirituality!
