Tshireletso Online Child Safety Initiative
Established 2021, the Tshireletso Online Child Safety Initiative is a joint CyberM8, Department of Basic Education (DBE) and Agape Youth Movement (AYM) innovative programme dedicated to educating South African teens on staying safe online in partnership with By using familiar slang, regional expressions, and engaging visuals, Tshireletso reaches young people where they’re most active—on social media.
This dynamic initiative leverages short-form videos, interactive posts, and relatable content that resonates with teens from all over the country, making online safety practical, fun, and relevant.
This initiative aligns with national frameworks, including the National Safer Schools Framework, the Gender-Based Violence and Femicide National Strategic Plan, and the National Youth Policy 2020-2030.
Through the use of regional slang and tailored interactive content, the initiative seeks to:
- Enhance Online Safety Knowledge by educating teens on essential practices such as securing personal information, recognizing scams, and protecting their privacy.
- Promote Positive Online Culture by encouraging respectful, responsible interactions and fostering a supportive digital environment.
- Increase Accessibility and Engagement by connecting with teens in their language and style, ensuring inclusivity across South Africa’s diverse regions.
- Empower Self-Protection by equipping teens to identify online threats, report harmful content, and seek support when needed.
The main goal of this effort is to increase children’s, parents’/caregivers’, and teachers’ abilities to ensure a safer online environment for kids. This entails spreading awareness of the potential risks posed by the internet, exchanging information and expertise on best practices for online safety, granting access to educational materials like kid-friendly audiovisual content (animation videos), infographics, and training sessions, and forming cooperative partnerships with schools, non-governmental organizations, and the government to deliver efficient online safety programs.
Advanced capabilities are needed to keep up with the continuously expanding and complicated online environments. Both students and teachers must be trained in the timely detection and reporting of inappropriate internet activity in order to recognize and report online abuse. An online environment that is more secure as a result of these modifications.
