BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- Brunei is set to inculcate awareness on the use of safe social media in school curriculum, which is intended to enhance understanding of the moral and ethical elements involved in the use of social media, said Haji Suyoi, Brunei's minister of education.
According to local media on Wednesday, Haji Suyoi said 207 people have become victims of cybercrime until mid-November 2017, compared to 190 in 2016, citing the statistics from the Criminal Investigation Department of the Royal Brunei Police Force.
"Of the victims, 123 are those aged 18-35 years. This is a worrying trend and we do not want to see such negative things coming along with information technology, especially on social media. This will upset the various initiatives planned and implemented by the Ministry of Education (MoE)," the minister said.
"It seems that the development of social media can no longer be controlled, and it cannot be denied that social media applications pose serious and powerful challenges to the world," he said.
"Social media has also been linked to increased rates of anxiety, depression and poor sleep. The findings match what is happening in our country and we need to act to protect the younger generation, especially students, from challenges posed by social media," the minister noted.
The minister added that the social media learning package will be used starting 2018 to educate students on how to use social media in a smart, ethical, safe and responsible manner.
It is hoped that awareness initiatives such as these can protect and restrain children and teenagers from being victimized by the advancement of information technology and educate them on how to take advantage of the social media platforms prudently, said the minister.
