“Education” measures the effect of communication platforms on students

The Ministry of Education, in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior for Child Protection Center, launched a comprehensive questionnaire for students at the age of 14-18, to measure the opinions of parents on psychological, behavioral and health effects for social media platforms in students.

The questionnaire deals with major axes, including digital students ’customs, such as the number of hours of use and its educational and recreational purposes, as well as the role of the family and the school in their awareness of the risks of the Internet and the means of safe use, as well as highlighting students’ experience The Internet, in addition to their sense of safety in the school and social environment.

The Emirates Today published, on February 8, a press investigation on the effects of social media platforms on students, under the title “6 social platforms addicted to students … and their cognitive achievement is disrupted.”

In detail, the questionnaire that the Emirates Today has seen its details, to collect accurate data that contributes to developing policies and programs to enhance the safe and responsible use of the Internet, in addition to monitoring the challenges facing families in dealing with the digital behavior of their children, as the organizers confirmed in their questionnaire “All answers will be dealt with completely confidential and will only be used for research and development purposes.”

The questionnaire has identified the target group with parents and guardians who have children or children under their guardianship under the age of 18, and the participants are asked to answer a set of questions that cover various aspects related to the use of their children for electronic devices and social media platforms.

The questionnaire was based on four axes, including digital use, psychological, behavioral and health effects, online security risks, and parental control.

It included 23 questions to the educational field, as the axis of digital use focused on digital children’s habits, with questions about the extent of children using electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, or computers.

And the use of children for social media platforms such as “Facebook”, “Instagram”, “Tech Talk”, “Snapchat”, and “YouTube”, and the average number of hours that children spend on the Internet for the purposes of study or entertainment, the most preferred platforms, and the extent of their commitment Regulating the hours of using the Internet -related devices.

The axis of psychological, behavioral and health effects dealt with the opinions of parents about the effects resulting from the use of social media platforms, which include psychological effects, such as anxiety, tension, social isolation, and behavioral effects, such as changing social interaction patterns or the emergence of unwanted behaviors, health effects, Such as poor eyesight, fatigue, or sleep disturbances, and the effect of using these platforms on academic achievement.

The third axis reviewed the awareness of the parents of the security risks that their children may be exposed to while browsing the Internet, such as electronic bullying, digital fraud, or extortion, through five questions that include the extent of parents knowing the security risks on the Internet, and whether they are exposed to any kind of security risks during the 12th In the past month, parents feel safe while their children use social media platforms, the extent of children’s readiness to ask for help from their parents in the event of any digital threat, and the parents ’knowledge of the parties they can resort to in the event of any threat or digital danger to their children.

In the axis of parental control, the questionnaire focused on the patriarchal control methods that parents follow to protect their children on the Internet, ask questions about the extent of educating children about the methods of safe browsing, and the monitoring of parents of their children’s electronic activities, imposing restrictions and controls on the use of the Internet, and the extent of children resisting for parental control or Attempts to impose controls on them, and whether the parents have already seized their children while opening inappropriate pages, and their level of satisfaction with the efforts of schools in raising awareness of the safe use of the Internet, and the efforts of the competent authorities in controlling inappropriate content via the Internet.

The questionnaire devotes a part that allows parents to express their opinions and suggestions to enhance the protection of children on the Internet, which helps to develop comprehensive strategies to protect young people from digital risks.

The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Interior called on parents to interact and participate in the questionnaire, to enhance national efforts to protect children from digital risks and develop a safe and fruitful electronic environment for future generations.