Globe Telecom Brings Cyberwellness Program to Visayan High Schools

Concerned over the online health and safety of Visayan youth, Globe Telecom opens its Digital Thumbprint Program (DTP) cyberwellness advocacy to all interested high schools in the region which want to teach their students how to avoid social media mistakes and prevent them from becoming victims of cyberbullying and cybercrimes.

At the same time, Globe encourages community members such as parents and teachers to join the advocacy by nominating any school which they want to benefit from DTP.  This way, they can help  young people learn about responsible use of technology, be it through gadgets, website browsing, or social media platforms.

Co-designed by the Karrikins Group, DTP is composed of a series of workshops patterned after the Optus DTP in-school program where it has already reached 81,000 high school students across Australia.  Globe also aims to do the same by educating as many Filipino youth on digital citizenship in view of a recent Philippine National Police report that half of the internet users are adolescents aged 17 years old and below.

“With the increasing time the youth spends online to do schoolwork or partake in online gaming and social media platforms, these young digital natives are becoming more exposed to a myriad of issues such as identity-theft and cyberbullying. Thus, we decided to bring DTP to different parts of the Philippines such as the Visayas to help guide them in making safe and responsible choices in their online activities.  DTP can equip them with the knowledge and tools to protect themselves online,” said Fernando Esguerra, Globe Director for Citizenship.

DTP offers three exciting modules for students. Each module is designed to increase students’ knowledge of digital citizenship and cyber safety by taking a critical look at their online behavior and helping them develop insights into the influences of the online world and the choices they are making.

The Digital Insight workshop provides activities to help students discern proper online behavior, Digital Impact tackles issues on technology’s impact on students’ social activities, while Digital Ambition equips them with skills on how to use technology to achieve life goals. While all public and private schools nationwide are eligible to receive the free DTO workshops for their teachers and students, the modules are recommended for students from grades 7-12.

To nominate a school for DTP, simply fill out this form http://bit.ly/GlobeDTPNomination  with the necessary details or email bridgecom@globe.com.ph.  The Globe Citizenship team will use this information to contact the school directly to arrange a schedule with them for the DTP workshops. For additional questions on DTP, you may email bridgecom@globe.com.ph.