The accelerated development of digital technology needs to be addressed wisely in order to minimize threats in the cyber world.

Children and teenagers are often targeted by cyber threats. Therefore, digital literacy skills need to be improved.

Responding to this phenomenon, a team of lecturers from the Communication Science Study Program and Digital Public Relations Study Program, Faculty of Communication and Business (FKB) Telkom University, held an activity entitled Development of Digital Literacy and Cyber Security Awareness for Teenagers on Friday, January 13, 2023 as a form of Community Service (Abdimas) program.

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This activity targets groups of children and adolescents in the Gumuruh Village area, Batununggal District, Bandung City.

In collaboration with Karang Taruna 06 Gumuruh, this event presented four resource persons from lecturers of Communication Science and Digital Public Relations study programs.

The Chief Executive of Abdimas activities Nisa Nurmauliddiana Abdullah, M.I.Kom hopes that through this activity, children and adolescents who are actively surfing in this cyber world are not only good at using it, but know how to be wise in using the internet, especially social media.

“Digital literacy is indeed one of the skills included in the 21st Century Skill Set, which is no longer a bargain, it must be owned by everyone to be successful in the digital era,” said Nisa.

Through this activity, children and adolescents in the Gumuruh region are invited to be more critical in using digital media so that its use can provide benefits, and can prevent them from various risks of threats that may occur on the internet.

These threats include cyberbullying, online gender-based violence, and phishing.

Telkom University Digital Public Relations study program lecturer, Sarah D. Ekaputri revealed, digital literacy skills consist of 4 components, namely capable, ethical, safe, and cultured in digital media.

For this reason, children and adolescents need to be given awareness regarding internet ethics and equipped with tips to stay safe on the internet to avoid existing threats.

“We equip children and teenagers with simple and basic but very important tips to keep them safe in the cyber world. For example, by not sharing social media passwords with anyone, not disclosing personal data, OTP codes, and so on,” said the speaker from the Telkom University Communication Science program, Haris Annisari Indah, M.I.Kom.

The location of this digital literacy development activity was held at the RW 06 Gumuruh Office and was attended by more than 20 children and adolescents. Participants seemed enthusiastic because the activities held by lecturers and students of FKB Telkom University were packed in a “fun” way with games and attractive prizes for active participants.

“Seeing the enthusiasm of the children, we hope this activity can continue and target more children and adolescents in Greater Bandung,” concluded Telkom University Communication Science lecturer, Fiqie Lavani Melano, M.I.Kom.***. Research