Vocational School of Justice
Taking action to keep children safe online
Children’s access to internet increased globally. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nesrin Oruç, Director of IUE Continuous Education Center, developed a project that aims to inform children, parents, and teachers about keeping children safe online. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nesrin Oruç’s project became the only project in Turkey to be supported by the Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund (AEIF) among more than 1,300 project submissions from 156 countries. The $15 thousand budget provided by the AEIF will be used for training purposes throughout one year. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nesrin Oruç, who gave information about the project, which provided training to 80 teachers and 331 fifth graders so far, and was supported by Izmir Institute of Technology, Marmara University, and Urla Psychotherapy Center, said, “Children were taught about the concepts of selfness and safety. These can be reflected on virtual world in many ways. When an online game asks for personal information, children should give a second thought about it. On the other hand, a child, who is subject to cyber bullying, may choose not share this with anyone. Therefore, it is very important that children communicate with their parents or teachers.” Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nesrin Oruç stated that the project also included basic technological training, children would be taught what and how much of it is safe to share with others online, how they should adjust their security settings, and how they should set up their passwords. “Parents relation with their children is very important. Children should feel safe about sharing anything with their parents. Parents should seek professional help when their children are subject to the negative effects of the internet. The Information and Communication Technologies Authority can be a major source of help about this,” Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nesrin Oruç.