Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Key Elements for Cybersafety Education of Primary School Learners in South Africa

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Human Aspects of Information Security and Assurance (HAISA 2023)

Part of the book series: IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology ((IFIPAICT,volume 674))

  • 418 Accesses

Abstract

School learners are prone to falling victim to a range of cyberattacks. Common cyberthreats associated with school learners include cyberbullying, sexting/‘sextortion’, engaging with strangers, accessing inappropriate content and privacy breaches. As the cybersafety of school learners is often compromised, there is a need to protect them from the threats associated with ICT. However, protecting children from cyberthreats is complicated because access to cyberspace is no longer confined to the home computer, but has extended to mobile phones, which are even more pervasive. Therefore, it is essential for school learners to be educated on how to protect themselves and their information in cyberspace through cybersafety initiatives. This paper proposes Key Elements to be considered when addressing cybersafety education, particularly for primary school learners in South Africa. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by exploring cybersafety education in the context of South Africa, emphasizing the need for targeted cybersafety education. Primarily, the Key Elements proposed in this paper provide a comprehensive, contextual and practical foundation for cybersafety education in schools.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Global Cybersecurity Forum: Why Children are Unsafe in Cyberspace (2022). https://globalcybersecurityforum.com/reports?report=231&utm_campaign=childrens-report-publication&utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_content=carousel&utm_term=report-stats. Accessed March 2023

  2. Australian Government: Enhancing online safety for Children Bill 2014 (2014). https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2014B00254/Explanatory%20Memorandum/Text. Accessed December 2022

  3. Farrell, N.: Government to give kids cyber security lessons (2014). http://www.techradar.com/news/software/security-software/government-to-give-kids-cyber-security-lessons-1233480?src=rss&ttr=al. Accessed March 2020

  4. Kortjan, N., von Solms, R.: A conceptual framework for cyber security awareness and education in SA. South Afr. Comput. J. 52 (2014). https://doi.org/10.18489/sacj.v52i0.201

  5. Von Solms, S., Von Solms, R.: Towards cyber safety education in primary schools in Africa. In: Proceedings of the Eighth International Symposium on Human Aspects of Information Security and Assurance (HAISA 2014), pp. 185–197 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Department of Basic Education.: Guidelines on e-Safety in Schools: Educating towards responsible, accountable and ethical use of ICT in education (2010). http://goo.gl/mxK0xa. Accessed April 2022

  7. Cilliers, L., Chinyamurindi, W.: Perceptions of cyber bullying in primary and secondary schools among student teachers in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Electron. J. Inf. Syst. Dev. Countr. 86(4), e12131 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1002/isd2.12131

  8. Farhangpour, P., Mutshaeni, H.N., Maluleke, C.: Emotional and academic effects of cyberbullying on students in a rural high school in the Limpopo province, South Africa. South Afr. J. Inf. Manage. 21(1), 1–8 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Krippendorff, K.: Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology. Sage Publications, Newbury Park (1980)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  10. De Lange, M.: Guidelines to establish an e-safety awareness in South Africa. 217. Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree M IT in Information Systems in the Faculty of Engineering Built and Information Technology (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Kortjan, N.: A cyber security awareness and education framework for South Africa (2013). http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1014829. Accessed March 2023

  12. Von Solms, S., Fischer, R.: Digital wellness: concepts of cybersecurity presented visually for children. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh International Symposium on Human Aspects of Information Security and Assurance (HAISA 2017), pp. 156–166 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Kritzinger, E.: Improving cybersafety maturity of South African schools. Information 11, 471 (2020). https://doi.org/10.3390/info11100471

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Mashiane, T., Dlamini, Z., Mahlangu, T.: A rollout strategy for cybersecurity awareness campaigns. In: Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on CyberWarfare and Security (ICCWS 2019), Stellenbosch, South Africa, 28 February–1 March 2019, pp. 243–250 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Kritzinger, E.: Short-term initiatives for enhancing cyber-safety within South African schools. South Afr. Comput. J. 28(1), 1–17 (2016). https://doi.org/10.18489/sacj.v28i1.369

  16. Kritzinger, E., Padayachee, K.: Engendering an e-safety awareness culture within the South African context. In: IEEE AFRICON Conference (2013). https://doi.org/10.1109/AFRCON.2013.6757708

  17. Reid, R., Van Niekerk, J.: Towards an education campaign for fostering a societal, cyber security culture. In: Proceedings of the Eighth International Symposium on Human Aspects of Information Security & Assurance (HAISA), pp. 174–184 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  18. De Lange, M., Von Solms, R.: An e-safety educational framework in South Africa. In: Proceedings of the Southern Africa Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference (SATNAC) (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Kritzinger, E.: Children Edition: Cyber Security Awareness Workbook (2011). https://www.fpb.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Cyber-Security-workbook-_Children_Edition_Final-Sipho-Edits.pdf. Accessed November 2022

  20. Conklin, W.A., Cline, R.E., Roosa, T.: Re-engineering cybersecurity education in the US: an analysis of the critical factors. In: Proceedings Forty Seventh Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, pp. 2006–2014. IEEE (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Kritzinger, E.: Enhancing cyber safety awareness among school children in South Africa through gaming. In: Proceedings of the 2015 Science and Information Conference, SAI 2015, pp. 1243–1248 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1109/SAI.2015.7237303

  22. South African Government: National Cybersecurity Policy Framework (2015). https://www.gov.za/documents/national-cybersecurity-policy-framework-4-dec-2015-0000. Accessed October 2022

  23. Kritzinger, E.: Cyber Safety: A South African perspective, pp. 1–10 (2014). https://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/cybersecurity-capacity/system/files/Cybersafety_Awareness_Southafrica_0.pdf. Accessed December 2022

  24. Kritzinger, E., Padayachee, K.: Teaching safe and secure usage of ICTs in South African schools. In: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Society and Information Technologies, pp. 1–6 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Zucule de Barros, J.M., Lazarek, H.: A cyber safety model for schools in Mozambique. In: ICISSP, pp. 251–258 (2018). https://doi.org/10.5220/0006573802510258

  26. Kritzinger, E.: Growing a cyber-safety culture amongst school learners in South Africa through gaming. South Afr. Comput. J. 29(2), 16–35 (2017). https://doi.org/10.18489/sacj.v29i2.471

  27. Von Solms, R., Von Solms, S.: Cyber safety education in developing countries. J. Syst. Cybern. Inf. 13(2), 14–19 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Kritzinger, E.: Cultivating a cyber-safety culture among school learners in South Africa. Afr. Educ. Rev. 14(1), 22–41 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1080/18146627.2016.1224561

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Reid, R., Van Niekerk, J.: Snakes and ladders for digital natives: information security education for the youth. Inf. Manage. Comput. Secur. 22(2), 179–190 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1108/IMCS-09-2013-0063

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Zhang-Kennedy, L., Abdelaziz, Y., Chiasson, S.: Cyberheroes: the design and evaluation of an interactive ebook to educate children about online privacy. Int. J. Child-Comput. Interact. 13, 10–18 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcci.2017.05.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Zhang-Kennedy, L., Chiasson, S.: A systematic review of multimedia tools for cybersecurity awareness and education. ACM Comput. Surv. (CSUR) 54(1), 1–39 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1145/3427920

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. National Cyber Security Alliance: Cybersecurity awareness resources for kids and families (2021). https://staysafeonline.org/cybersecurity-awareness-resources-for-kids-and-families/. Accessed August 2021

  33. Lamond, M., Renaud, K., Prior, S., Wood, L.: SOK: young children’s cybersecurity knowledge and skills. In Proceedings of the 2022 European Symposium on Usable Security 2022 (2022)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Prior, S., Renaud, K.: Age-appropriate password “best practice” ontologies for early educators and parents. Int. J. Child-Comput. Interact. 23, 100169 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcci.2020.100169

  35. Chen, W., He, Y., Tian, X., He, W.: Exploring cybersecurity education at the K-12 level. In: Proceedings of the SITE Interactive Conference, pp. 108–114 (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  36. Miles, D.: Youth protection: digital citizenship – principles and new resources. In: Proceedings of the Second Worldwide Cybersecurity Summit (WCS), pp. 1–3. IEEE (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  37. Google: Make safety choices that fit your family (2017). http://www.google.co.za/safetycenter/families/start/. Accessed February 2023

  38. South African Cyber Security Academic Alliance (SACSAA): Cyber Safety Awareness (2011). http://www.cyberaware.org.za. Accessed January 2022

  39. University of Pretoria.: African Centre of Excellence for Information Ethics (2017). http://www.up.ac.za/en/african-centre-of-excellence-for-information-ethics. Accessed August 2022

  40. Jossel, L.: South African kids online: a glimpse into children’s internet use and online activities (2016). http://globalkidsonline.net/southafrica/ Accessed January 2023

  41. United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF): South African mobile generation Study on South African young people on mobiles. Study on South African Young People on Mobiles, pp. 1–47 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  42. Department of Basic Education: Unpacking the impact of Life Orientation in schools (2021). https://www.education.gov.za/ArchivedDocuments/ArchivedArticles/Impact-of-LO-in-Schools-1022.aspx. Accessed February 2023

  43. Giannakas, F., Kambourakis, G. & Gritzalis, S.: CyberAware: a mobile game-based app for cybersecurity education and awareness. In: Proceedings of 2015 International Conference on Interactive Mobile Communication Technologies and Learning, IMCL 2015, pp. 54–58 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1109/IMCTL.2015.7359553

  44. Fisch, S.M.: Making educational computer games educational. In: Proceedings of the 2005 Conference on Interaction Design and Children, pp. 56–61. ACM (2005). https://doi.org/10.1145/1109540.1109548

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa

    Lynn Futcher, Kerry-Lynn Thomson, Lean Kucherera & Noluxolo Gcaza

Authors
  1. Lynn Futcher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kerry-Lynn Thomson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lean Kucherera
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Noluxolo Gcaza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kerry-Lynn Thomson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

    Steven Furnell

  2. University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK

    Nathan Clarke

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Futcher, L., Thomson, KL., Kucherera, L., Gcaza, N. (2023). Key Elements for Cybersafety Education of Primary School Learners in South Africa. In: Furnell, S., Clarke, N. (eds) Human Aspects of Information Security and Assurance. HAISA 2023. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, vol 674. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38530-8_10

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38530-8_10

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-38529-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-38530-8

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Societies and partnerships

Search

Navigation