“We must act quickly and take positive steps to help these children facing cyber-risks around the world, especially in ICT emerging countries.” (Dr Yuhyun Park, DQ Institute Singapore)

Today, the DQ Institute, Singapore announces its inaugural DQ Impact Report, it summarizes the current state of online child safety and digital citizenship, the study which was conducted in November 2017, included 38,000 participants ages 8-12 year olds across 29 countries.

The report from the DQ Institute shows that on average, 54% of 8-12 year old children in Nigeria are exposed to one or more cyber risks such as cyberbullying, video game addiction, online grooming and online sexual behaviours when using online platforms. The most prevalent cyber risk was found to be victimization by cyberbullying (37%), followed by online sexual behaviours (23%) and video game addiction (14%).

Nigeria’s cyber-risk exposure is 2% lower than the global average of 56%. However, risk exposure can become is particularly acute with children who own a mobile phone and who actively engage in social media. In such cases, children have a 20% higher likelihood of being exposed to cyber-risks, and average 12 more hours of screen time per week compared to children who do not own mobile phones. Full results of the report can be found at www.dqinstitute.org.

Founder of the DQ Institute, Dr Yuhyun Park says, “From an early age, our children’s use of social media through personal mobile phones has been excessive. Before they start actively engaging in social media or owing their mobile phone, we need to empower our children with digital citizenship skills to mitigate cyber-risks and maximize the opportunity of technology”.

#DQEveryChild as a Vaccine to Cyber-Risks

Beyond IQ and EQ, Digital Intelligence (DQ) is the set of must-have skills that children need to use digital technology and media in safe, responsible and effective ways.

#DQEveryChild™ is a strategic global movement, run by the DQ Institute in association with the World Economic Forum and RAVE Et Al Limited, the pioneer DQ Ambassador in Nigeria, to empower children with DQ at the start of their digital lives. It utilizes research-based online platform known as DQWorld.net, for teaching and assessing digital citizenship skills to children ages 8-12 years old. DQ World.net can be easily ‘plugged and played’ into any school or national curriculum, and is free for every child.

Charity Babatunde, Founder of RAVE Et Al, in pursuit of her mission to reinforce values and ensure that children are empowered with essential life skills imperative for successfully navigating life online and offline, has successfully collaborated with the DQ Institute to ensure that the #DQEveryChild movement is getting the necessary awareness in Nigeria. Charity particularly enjoyed the DQ Framework’s focus on “digital footprints,” that encourages students to be careful of what they share and post online. In the months after becoming a DQ Ambassador in May 2017, RAVE has engaged the general public in different capacities and on different platforms such as School visits, Workshops, Trainings, Exhibitions & Conferences, in order to empower as many children as possible with DQ Skills.

Armed with a strong sense of patriotism and determination to ensure Nigeria was a part of the global impact study and in the forefront Digital Citizenship Education in Africa, RAVE Et Al embraced the challenge and ensured that well over 1000 children across Nigeria took part in the 2017 Multinational Screen Time study and made important first steps into digital citizenship education. In the coming month, RAVE will receive Nigeria’s National Report – containing detailed insights on children’s exposure to cyber risks and digital media use habits – and begin planning new initiatives to help empower more children with digital intelligence.

“It is our belief digital citizenship skills are an absolute necessity for keeping children safe and raising digitally intelligent leaders. RAVE is committed to empowering every child with DQ skills to enable them make safe and informed choices.” – Charity Babatunde, Founder of Rave Et Al Limited