One hundred and Forty-Three teachers, drawn from secondary schools in Bwari, Kuje, and Gwagwalada Local Government Councils Areas of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), were recently trained by Access Bank Plc, in collaboration with Xploit Consulting Company Limited.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the training, the Director, Communication of Xploit Company, Mrs Grace Taiwo, said that the training was meant to create awareness in both teachers and students on how to prevent cyber bullying and how to manage the internet.
Taiwo said that the training was organised to equip the teachers with the skills to prevent, detect and deal with using the internet to harm or frighten people, either through facebook, instagram, twitter and whatsapp, among other platforms.
“The aim of this training is to enlighten the teachers on the preventive measures they can use on internet through their handset, ipad, laptop and other devices.
“We are training the teachers so that they can also train the students and then take the training to their various homes.
“After training the teachers, they will be encouraged to train the students as well so that they (students) can train their other families and relatives around, to enable a retraining trend.
“In other countries, cyber bullying has made children go as far as committing suicide and so, we decided to collaborate to create awareness through trainings in schools,’’ she said.
Mr Daniel Ojo, one of the facilitators of the training and Manager, Ayem and Bayts Consulting Limited, said that one of the ways of exposing people to cyber bullying was when their accounts or passwords were not protected.
He advised people to always ensure that their accounts were not exposed to strangers.
Also speaking, another facilitator, Dr Inya Ode, stressed the need to be safe and responsible, while using the internet, adding that such would help to avoid cyber bullying.
Ode, Principal Partner, Nobleherald Consulting Limited, also urged the trained teachers to ensure that they mentored the students on the risk of cyber bullying and measures to prevent such act.
Another facilitator, Mr Edward Enejoh, expressed worries over the damaging role that cyber bullying could play on the mental development of people.
Enejoh, however, advised Nigerians to always be careful with how they exposed their accounts and passwords on the internet platforms.
Vice Principal, Academics, Capital Science School, Kuje, Mr Bunuyaminu Yeti, commended the two organisations for training the teachers over measures to prevent cyber bullying in the country.
Yeti, who spoke on behalf of the other teachers from the various schools, said that the teachers would ensure that the training was extended to other students. (NAN)