On the morning of May 31, the Summer Fun Space was launched at the Hanoi Children’s Palace with various interactive activities designed to help children and parents enhance their knowledge on self-protection and promote respectful behavior in the online environment. In addition to the play areas set up in the courtyard of the Children’s Palace, the main stage hosted a roundtable discussion featuring educational experts and well-known artists.
Ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of the Safe Online Summer Playground.
The event took place over May 31 and June 1 with the theme “Safe Online Summer Fun” to celebrate International Children’s Day, organized by Google in collaboration with the Hanoi Children’s Palace.
The program featured two main activities: an interactive playground for children and a panel discussion with educational experts, the family of artist Ly Hai – Minh Ha, and representatives from Google Vietnam.
The event took place over May 31 and June 1 with the theme “Safe Online Summer Fun” to celebrate International Children’s Day, organized by Google in collaboration with the Hanoi Children’s Palace. The program featured two main activities: an interactive playground for children and a panel discussion with educational experts, the family of artist Ly Hai – Minh Ha, and representatives from Google Vietnam. In his opening remarks at the panel discussion, Marc Woo, Managing Director for Vietnam at Google Asia-Pacific, shared, “Through this playground, Google and YouTube are committed to expanding the program to reach more schools, teachers, and students this year, helping more children access the great benefits of the internet in a safer space.”
The panel discussion held on the morning of May 31 focused on improving digital safety skills and equipping parents with the knowledge to guide their children for safe and effective online experiences, especially during summer when children have more screen time.
Summer brings increased internet use for children, with Vietnamese children currently spending between 5-7 hours per day on social media, according to a 2022 survey by the Department of Child Affairs (Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs). Introducing an interactive space with engaging games that teaches children self-protection skills and online etiquette has been well-received by parents.
This is also the first time the educational games from the “Be Internet Awesome – Be Safer with Google” project have been implemented in Vietnam, helping children learn five core principles: Be Smart – Be Alert – Be Strong – Be Kind – Be Brave, all while enjoying familiar Interland games.
Meanwhile, parents can explore and receive guidance on using content management applications like YouTube Kids, YouTube Family Link, and YouTube Supervised Experience, learning how to direct children to healthy content while setting restrictions to prevent exposure to inappropriate content.
“This program is a valuable initiative, raising awareness and enhancing safe, effective internet usage skills for children, aligning with the goal of equipping children with age-appropriate knowledge and skills (digital immunity) to recognize risks and protect themselves online,” noted a representative from the Vietnam Cyber Emergency Response Center (VNCERT/CC), Department of Information Security, Ministry of Information and Communications.
