Recent UNICEF survey shows the pandemic has far-reaching negative effects on children and young people beyond the threat of the coronavirus itself. The survey found that more than 7 in 10 children in Thailand said COVID-19 pandemic is affecting their mental health, causing stress, worry, and anxiety. Following school closure measures, more than half of the young respondents said they are worried about their studies, exams and future education. About half of them are stressed from not being able to leave their homes.
According to Kaspersky’s recent report, based on anonymized data collected by the Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) from users of Kaspersky Safe Kids on both Windows and macOS platforms, children in Thailand have become more interested in games on personal computers during the lockdown. From March to May 2020, interest in this category highly increased in comparison with the first two months of the year.
On July 1st, all levels of public and private schools in Thailand are reopened nationwide with strict hygiene rules after an almost three and a half months of halted classes and activities as part of the measures to control the spread of the coronavirus.
However, some schools have weighed health safety in their localities and are currently employing different remote learning programs. Classes have been split, students is going to school on alternate days, while the rest is studying online classes from home, resulting in the increase of connected devices possessed by children.
“Playing games online can be kids’ way of adapting to a world where they cannot go out. Moreover, the new educational system provides opportunities for children to spend more time online during or after online lessons. Keeping them safe while online can be challenging. There are no teachers to watch over them and parents may find it challenging to monitor them every minute. But it is a matter of awareness - knowing what dangers lurk and how to safeguard our young minds against them,” comments Yeo Siang Tiong, General Manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky.
“One of our previous reports revealed that parents fear for their children’s online safety but are not putting time to talk about it. Majority of them also agreed that they have, at least, partial responsibility for teaching their kids about internet safety. As most moms and dads are still working from home, we advise them to spend more time with their kids discussing how to move around the web safely, and to also improve their own awareness in terms of cybersecurity threats so that they can protect their kids better,” adds Yeo.
To ensure your child has positive online experiences during the pandemic, Kaspersky has the following recommendations:
Encourage your children to tell you if they are experiencing anything that makes them uncomfortable online. Note that not all negative emotions have negative connotations and there can be good outcomes. For instance, if a child doesn’t succeed in something and they persist in trying to get it right, their patience will improveIf you notice your child’s online behaviour is changing, try to find out why. Talk to them and try to understand how they are perceiving the current circumstances, as well as what difficulties they may be encountering. It may be time to check that they are not overloaded with schoolworkFind time to spend time online with your child. It will help strengthen your relationship and increase your understanding of what your child does during their free time in the webInstall Kaspersky Total Security, a comprehensive multi-device family security suite that has antivirus and anti-ransomware protection, webcam security and 87 more technologies to protect your family from the latest cyber threats. This service also includes Kaspersky Safe Kids, a solution that allows you to monitor, see and search your children’s online activity across a range of devices but without encroaching on their personal space. The solution also offers useful advice on how to help children behave safely online
To learn more about Kaspersky’s recent findings on children’s safety, the full research report is available to read https://securelist.com/children-report-2020/97191/