Cultivating a cyber-safety culture among school learners in South Africa

Technology is playing an increasingly significant role in people’s lives. They use it for work, education, business and social activities; however, their use of different kinds of information communication technologies (ICTs) puts their personal information at risk. It is essential for everyone using ICTs to be aware of the potential information safety risks and how to identify and prevent them. The latter is a growing problem among ICT users in South Africa – especially school learners – because many of them do not have the necessary knowledge and background to use ICTs properly and safely. The dangers associated with the lack of a cyber-safety culture when using ICTs at school level render it vital for school learners and all relevant role-players to be thoroughly alerted to and educated about cyber safety. This article proposes a cyber-culture approach (CCA) that can guide and mobilise the different role-players (e.g. government, teachers and parents) to address the cyber-safety situation urgently. The CCA proposes a time-based approach that can be implemented to cultivate a growing and sustainable cyber-safety culture among school learners in particular. The CCA, as proposed in the research, can be used to ensure that a culture of cyber-safety awareness is created in South Africa – one that is aimed not only at protecting all role-players, but also at providing critical information about possible ICT risks, threats and attacks.