Cyber Wellness - Values

Chapter 7
Promote cyber wellness values

Overview of warning signs, tips and advice on Internet safety

Am I spending too much time on internet? Am I addicted to internet gaming? With the internet permeating into almost every aspect of lives, there is no doubt that the extent of these concerns will deepen with time.

THE FIVE 'C'S OF CYBER WELLNESS AND THEIR KEY MESSAGES
Five 'C's of Cyber Wellness - Community, Contact, Content, Confusion and Commerce - a structure which youth developers can use to promote cyber wellness values in their communities and families.
  1. Community
    • Safe and healthy communities (both real life and online) form the foundation for Cyber Wellness.
  2. Contact
    • Online interactions often decrease one's alertness to personal safety – beware that there is no sure way of discerning whether an online contact is truthful or safe!
    • No matter how long you chat with people online, they are still strangers – do not get sweet-talked.
  3. Content
    • Content available on the Internet cannot be effectively regulated. You are the best filter.
  4. Confusion
    • Pursue your dreams with focus. Do not fail to achieve because of Internet addiction
  5. Commerce
    • Increased connectivity on the Internet increases the risk of security breaches.

Community & Contact

Connecting with other people on the Internet is one of the most popular activities among youths today, especially activities such as email and chatting.

Instant Messaging/ICQ

Instant messaging systems such as MSN Messenger, ICQ and Yahoo! Messenger are popular. Some points to keep in mind:
  • Engage in one-to-one messaging
  • However, other users may try to contact you
  • Choose whether or not to respond - the choice is yours
  • Choose not to chat with anyone else other than friends
  • Be very careful about information you give out
  • Block individuals you want to ignore

Chat Tips

Chatting online in a chat room (e.g. IRC) or a forum can be fun and enriching. To keep it fun and safe adopt the following principles:
  • Do not give out personal information such as telephone numbers or home addresses
  • Put pick nicknames that are not suggestive; obviously with names like sexy16, you are likely to get a lot of unwanted attention
Find out more later in my blog, next week perhaps? See you! :)

Declaration: I mean no harm or infringement of copyright, am re-posting to share and create awareness on Cyber Wellness only.
Source: ITE Cyber Wellness Notes