PLDT Home and Google joined forces in creating Be Internet Awesome online series for kids

Following its partnership announcement to further strengthen efforts in educating Filipino kids and families about internet safety and digital responsibility, the Philippines’ leading home broadband and digital service provider PLDT Home and Google joined forces in creating a kid-oriented video series online. 

The Be Internet Awesome online series combines animation and live action — featuring Gen Alpha whiz Sam and his trusty friend Robo-berto in fun-filled yet enlightening adventures on how to be smart, alert, strong, kind, and brave online. The series is based on the values of Google’s Be Internet Awesome global program and is directed by Manny Angeles, an award-winning director and producer of kid-oriented and animated shows. 

 

Available in both English and Filipino in the Philippines, Be Internet Awesome aims to teach children the fundamentals of leading a digital life which includes what kind of information to post on social media and how to deal with cyberbullying among others. This is part of the many efforts of Google to help keep people safe online. 

 

“Our children are true digital natives. They grew up with the internet and everything the digital world has to offer. But as they broaden their horizons for discovery and learning, it also exposes them to risks and dangers,” said Jeremiah de la Cruz, Senior Vice President and Head of Consumer Home Group, PLDT Inc. “Through this original series, we at PLDT Home want to translate the teachings from Google’s Be Internet Awesome program into an entertaining and practical show that children can enjoy watching while learning about online safety early on.”

 

“PLDT Home’s partnership with Google for Be Internet Awesome aligns with our larger group-wide commitment: to strengthen customer-centricity. At PLDT, we not only find ways to simplify technology and experience for our customers, but we also strive to do business responsibly by putting their safety and well-being at the forefront of all our products and services,” said Alfredo S. Panlilio, President and CEO of PLDT Inc. And Smart Communications, Inc.

 

In 2021, PLDT also invested over P2 billion in cybersecurity and protection filtering. The country’s largest integrated telco has since been very active in detecting, responding, and preventing both domain and content-level access to child sexual abuse material (CSAM) within the network. PLDT’s Child Protection Platform has blocked almost 300,000 URLs linked CSAM by the end of May and prevented more than a billion attempts to access these illegal sites from November last year to May this year.

 

“After launching Be Internet Awesome in 2021 in the Philippines, we are glad to have found a like-minded partner in PLDT who champions the same values when it comes to protecting kids online. Through PLDT and more potential partners in the future, we hope to scale Be Internet Awesome and provide more families with a practical way of teaching digital safety and wellness to their children so they can become responsible, confident explorers of the online world,” said Bernadette Nacario, Country Director of Google Philippines.

 

The Be Internet Awesome online series will premiere on the PLDT Home YouTube channel on July 8, 2022. 

Be Internet Awesome is Google’s free multifaceted program designed to teach kids the fundamentals of digital citizenship and online safety

Be Internet Awesome is Google’s free multifaceted program designed to teach kids the fundamentals of digital citizenship and online safety. Particularly, it is focused on five important topics: how to be smart, alert, strong, kind, and brave on the internet. It contains several teaching materials and related resources that can help teach digital literacy concepts to children with the help of teachers and parents.  

 

"The internet is a crucial part of everyday life. For kids and students, it opens up many opportunities to play, learn, and connect. However, it also exposes them to risks that adults face too. With Be Internet Awesome, we hope to help parents and educators in promoting and teaching digital responsibility inside and outside of the classroom--to raise the next generation of netizens who’s more smart, alert, strong, kind, and brave online. We will continue to work closely with the Department of Education and other partners from across sectors to bring Be Internet Awesome to more students and communities nationwide," said Bernadette Nacario, Country Director of Google Philippines. 

Together with the Department of Education (DepEd), Google implemented a pilot run of Be Internet Awesome in the Philippines to test it and gather feedback that could help improve the program further. The pilot run was conducted in more than 20 schools from across Antipolo, Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasig, and Nueva Ecija. With over 50 teachers, a total of 2,014 students from grades four to eight were taught about the lessons of Be Internet Awesome. 

 

The results of the pilot run were encouraging. The students gave a high rating between 90% and 94% across key attributes of Be Internet Awesome. They said that it helped them learn valuable internet safety tips and it is essential for them to learn it in the digital age. Meanwhile, the teachers found the content highly relevant and said that they have more ideas to further build it. 

 

"Educating students about digital responsibility is imperative and using Google's Be Internet Awesome is an effective way to do this. We’d like to thank Google for launching an important program that will equip our teachers and parents with the accessible resources they need to teach digital citizenship. Coming from the success of the pilot run, this program holds great potential to educate more students nationwide. The Department of Education will continue to work closely with Google to potentially integrate Be Internet Awesome into the national curriculum so it can be formally taught in the classroom," said Leonor Magtolis Briones, Secretary of the Department of Education.

 

Be Internet Awesome’s website in the Philippines is available in English and Filipino. Visit them to learn more about the program and access its resources.