The General Women’s Union, in co-operation with the Khalifa Empowerment Programme for Students (Aqdar), organised a workshop at its headquarters today, on the role of parents in the age of social media.

Noura Al Suwaidi, Director of the General Women’s Union, stated that the workshop was organised under the direction of H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union (GWU), Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation (FDF) and President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, to ensure that the union remains an active partner with social institutions in all matters that relate to women and other social issues. This is done through organising more sessions, lectures and workshops for the benefit of everyone involved.

She added that the workshop coincides with the annual "International Safer Internet Day" on the 9th of February, with 110 countries taking part in this year’s activities through several awareness programmes to create a safer culture of internet use by the public. The goal of the programme is to empower students by unifying the nation’s efforts in increasing awareness, she added.

Mohamed Ibrahim Fareh, Training Specialist at Aqdar, highlighted potential dangers such as cyber bullying, electronic games, GPS and social media and presented examples of smart devices including laptops, tablets, smart phones and smart watches.

He advised on how to protect children from these dangers through education and by speaking to children about the dangers of the world-wide web. He also encouraged them to speak to their parents about inappropriate or untrustworthy content.

He then spoke about how to protect private smartphone data and highlighted parental responsibility in facing the potential dangers of social media, advising parents to speak to their children about internet safety, as well as review the content of their devices, such as programmes and games. He also recommended that parents should specify times for internet use and review the websites visited by their children.

Aqdar’s participation confirmed its role in raising awareness of the potential dangers and security risks affecting internet users across all sectors of society.