In an increasingly digital world, the recent story of Laura Marie Mercieca, a young artist from Malta, serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities our children face online.
At the tender age of 14, Marie’s life turned upside down when a seemingly innocuous link sent by a friend led to her Facebook account being hacked, her personal space violated and her reputation tarnished.
The incident is not an isolated one. A 2022 report from the Pew Research Center indicates that almost half of students between 13 and 17 were victims of cyberbullying in their lifetime. Furthermore, children under 20 lost $101.4 million to online scams in 2021, according to the FBI Internet Crime Report, an increase of 1,100 per cent from the previous five years.
These statistics underscore the urgent need for robust measures to protect our children in the digital world.
As parents, educators and community members, we must ask ourselves whether we are doing enough to safeguard our children online. The digital world is a reality which we have to live with.
Before, it was about refusing candy from a stranger; today, it can be as simple as avoiding an innocent-looking link. Remember that everyone is online today, almost from the day they are born, so we should do more to equip our children with the necessary knowledge and tools to be safe in the digital world.
While schools have incorporated digital literacy into their curriculums, the focus is often on the technical aspects, such as coding and digital design. There is a glaring gap in educating children about online safety, the potential risks of cyberbullying and the devastating consequences of hacking.
If we look at those schools trying to be proactive, the time allocated is so meagre (due to timetabling constraints) that it usually doesn’t reach its intended objectives.
Moreover, parents, often less tech-savvy than their children, may be unaware of the dangers lurking in the digital shadows.
Bridging this knowledge gap and empowering parents to guide their children in the digital world is crucial. In a similar way that no parent would leave their children alone in a dodgy neighbourhood, they must realise that some online spaces are even more dangerous.
The reaction of Marie’s peers is another disturbing aspect of her ordeal. Instead of supporting her, she faced ridicule and ostracism, a testament to the lack of empathy and understanding among her peers. This fact highlights the need to foster a culture of compassion and respect in our schools and communities.
We should be there to pull each other up and not to push them down in the mud. Thus, it is evident that the system is failing and we should ask ourselves why these children reacted the way they did.
Marie has shown remarkable resilience in the face of adversity but others were not so lucky. We’ve seen kids whose lives have been shattered forever.
We should learn from Marie and use her experience to advocate for open conversations about the impact of hacking on children’s well-being. Her courage serves as a beacon of hope and a call to action for all of us.
As we navigate this digital age, we must ensure that our children are both tech-savvy and tech-safe. Such a feat requires a collective effort from parents, educators, policymakers and children.
Our responsibility is to transform the digital playground into a safe space for our children, where creativity and curiosity are nurtured, not exploited.
We should all look at this terrible event as a wake-up call. It is a reminder that, in our increasingly interconnected world, we must be vigilant protectors of our children’s safety, both physically and digitally. Let us heed this call and work together to create a safer digital world for our children.