• Month-long survey aims to understand the impact of digital lifestyle, skills and risks to schoolchildren.
• Findings will guide future initiatives to help improve schoolchildren’s online experiences.

SUBANG JAYA, 6 AUGUST 2021 – Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (“Digi”) today launched its Yellow Heart ‘Life Under COVID-19 for Children Online: Values and Challenges’ survey. The survey seeks to understand how Malaysian schoolchildren are coping with the new digital lifestyle during this pandemic, including how it is affecting their digital literacy and resilience in facing potential risks online.

Digi targets to gather responses from at least 2,000 schoolchildren nationwide, aged 10 to 18 years old. The month-long survey, in conjunction with the upcoming International Youth Day, will be conducted online via https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YHSurvey2021 until 6 September 2021.

Acknowledging that many children’s lives have become ‘digital by default’ in this pandemic, Philip Ling, Digi’s Head of Sustainability said it is more imperative now to take measures to understand what students, guardians and teachers are facing.

“One of the key objectives of the survey is to ask important questions about children and young people’s experiences and the risks they’ve encountered online. We can use these insights to curate more effective initiatives to address the issues and help improve their online learning and leisure experiences,” he said.

This ‘Life Under COVID-19 for Children Online: Values and Challenges’ survey is Digi’s latest digital lifestyle survey, with Sunway University as the research analysis partner, while AI Talent-PDC and Lions Club Sunway Damansara Metro as the outreach partners.

Earlier in 2018, Digi had also carried out the Yellow Heart Cyberbullying and Youth Disposition Survey that generated in-depth insights on cyberbullying.

As part of its Yellow Heart initiative, Digi has been actively advocating for a safe internet space and building digital resilience among schoolchildren. Recently, Digi marked the 10th anniversary of its flagship Safe Internet programme which aims to empower Malaysians to become responsible online citizens. To support and equip Malaysians with tools and knowledge on internet safety, Digi has made available resources such as its Yellow Heart Safe Internet portal, a one-stop repository of educational material including guidebooks, videos and modules for parents and children.

Concurrently, Digi has collaborated with UNICEF Malaysia, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and the Ministry of Education to provide Future Skills learning via the Digital Educational Learning Initiative Malaysia (DELIMa) platform for schoolchildren in Malaysia to enjoy the many learning opportunities the internet can provide.

For more information on Digi’s Yellow Heart initiatives, visit https://www.digi.com.my/yellow-heart.