Digital Safeguarding Centre

03/08/2025

Grateful to have participated in the International Child Protection Conference organized by the Centre for Gender Studies University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka UNICEF Sri Lanka and the National Child Protection Authority

Greatful to witness the final panel discussion on “Ending Violence Against Children – Sri Lanka’s Pledges to Action.” The conversation highlighted the urgent need for a comprehensive approach to child protection highlighting the Bogota Pledges, recognizing the impacts of intergenerational trauma, and tackling the normalization of violence in our society.

Key messages included the need to expand the 2016 circular on corporal punishment to all educational institutions, strengthen multi-stakeholder mechanisms, and invest in legal reform, policy frameworks, and sustained teacher training to build a truly non-violent environment.

04/07/2025

💻 අද දින අප සංවිධානය විසින් පොල්ගහවෙල ශ්‍රී බර්නාඩ් ආදර්ශ විද්‍යාලයේ සිසුන් සඳහා ඔන්ලයින් ආරක්ෂාව පිළිබඳව වැඩමුළුවක් පැවැත්වීමු.

🧠 බොහෝ දරුවන් තිර කාලය (screen time) පාලනය කිරීමට අසාර්ථක උත්සාහයක් දරන අතර ඊට අදාළ උපදේශනය අත්‍යවශ්‍ය බව මෙන්ම සුරක්‍ෂිත අන්තර්ජාල භාවිතයේ වැදගත්කම තේරුම් ගැන්වීම පමා නොකර සිදුකළ යුතුයි

❤️ උපදේශන ගුරු මිය ගණනේගොඩ මහත්මියට සහ වයස 11-14 සහ 15-18 අතර දරුවන්ට සුදුසු පුහුණු අන්තර්ගතයක් නිර්මාණය කිරීම සඳහා ගුරු භවතුන් හා සම්බන්ධ කිරීම සහ අරමුදල් සැපයීම වෙනුවෙන් ChildFund Sri Lanka වෙත විශේෂ ස්තුතිය.

💻 Today we spoke with the students of Sri Bernadeth College, Polgahawela about how to keep themselves safe online.

🧠What stood out? Many children are struggling with screen time, and unconsented image sharing is becoming a silent crisis.

📱 Children need more support to manage screen time and understand the implications of unsafe use of the internet.

🔗It’s clear we’re not just facing a tech challenge—we’re facing a rising public health issue in our digital spaces.

❤️ Thanks to the counseling teacher Ms Gananegoda and the Department of Probation and Child Care Services. Many thanks to ChildFund Sri Lanka for connecting teachers and funding to produce age appropriate content for children between 11-14 and 15-18

02/06/2025

Last month, Our founder, Shiromi Wathsala Samarakoon had the opportunity to facilitate a session for women politicians on Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence . Many of the participants had recently contested in LGA elections; others continue to serve their communities with courage and resilience. But all shared disturbing experiences of online abuse—ranging from image-based abuse, , , unwanted calls to many other violence including AI-generated .

What’s even more concerning is that the perpetrators are often political opponents, party insiders, or even close associates. Their goal is to discredit, intimidate, confuse families and ultimately drive women out of public life.

But these women are not backing down.

We didn't just discuss the threats—we explored real solutions. From protecting personal accounts to building digital resilience, this session was a call to action: political spaces must also be safe digital spaces.

A heartfelt thank to Sri Lanka for spearheading this initiative and to Nirosh Ananda Kumudu Perera Anojitha Sivaskaran Ramona Stephen for their essential technical and coordination support.

12/03/2025

28/12/2024

🌐 Join the Movement: Volunteer at the Digital Wellbeing Centre Today!
📅Send your application to digitalwellbeingc@gmail.com on or before 5th Jan 2025

24/12/2024

🎄✨ This holiday season, let's keep our kids safe online!
🛡️💻 Stay connected, stay informed and make the most of this joyful time together. 💕

"

02/12/2024

Last week, the founder of our Digital Well-being Centre - Shiromi Wathsala Samarakoon conducted a training for government officers on Child Online Safety & Digital Wellbeing 🌐👦👧.

📱The training was started taking participants through challenges children face online such as cyberbullying, sexual exploitation, misinformation, hatespeeh and other threats.

🏷️ We also emphasised the responsibility of government officers to protect children from all forms of violence including in digital environments.

⚖️ Discussions in the afternoon covered key laws, policies, and reporting mechanisms, as well as practical tools like parental controls, focus modes, and notification management to enhance children's digital well-being. 🛡️📱

Together, we can create safer digital spaces for every child! 🤝✨

Thanks to ChildFund Sri Lanka for organising and coordinating the event.

09/11/2024

Every parent wants their child to be safe online. Parental controls can be our compass! ❤🧭

සෑම දෙමව්පියෙකුටම අවශ්‍ය වන්නේ තම දරුවා අන්තර්ජාලය තුල ආරක්ෂිත වීමයි. ඒ සඳහා Parental Control නියමුවා විය හැක. ❤🧭

09/11/2024

Every parent wants their child to be safe online. Parental controls can be our compass! ❤🧭

සෑම දෙමව්පියෙකුටම අවශ්‍ය වන්නේ තම දරුවා අන්තර්ජාලය තුල ආරක්ෂිත වීමයි. ඒ සඳහා Parental Control නියමුවා විය හැක. ❤🧭

15/10/2024

We recently conducted a specialized teacher training program for ICT teachers in Puttalam, focusing on child online sexual exploitation and abuse. The program aimed to raise awareness about children's digital rights, identify online risks, and equip teachers with the skills to prevent, report, and respond to cases of online violence.

Key highlights included understanding the benefits and threats of the digital environment for children, exploring the 4Cs of online risks (content, contact, conduct, contract), and discussing crucial topics like screen addiction, cyberbullying, online exploitation and age-appropriate strategies to educate students on staying safe online.

Teachers were also made aware of technical solutions to safeguard children, such as removing child sexual abuse images and using parental controls to manage screen time, especially for those struggling with online addiction. Emphasis was also placed on fostering healthy relationships and open communication with children to create a safer online environment.

A big thank to ChildFund International Sri Lanka and the Regional Office in Puttalam for organizing and coordinating this important teacher training program.

27/09/2024

📱✨ Choose peace of mind for your child's online journey with Hutch Junior Internet Guard. 🌐🛡

📱✨ඔබේ දරුවාට නිදහසේ ඔන්ලයින් හී සැරිසැරීමට Hutch Junior Internet Guard තෝරාගන්න🌐🛡

📱✨உங்கள் பிள்ளையின் ஆன்லைன் பயணத்தின் மன அமைதிக்கு Hutch Junior Internet Guard ஐ தேர்வு செய்யவும்🌐🛡

24/09/2024

Congratulations Dr. Harini Amarasuriya for becoming the 16th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka!

A true testament to meritocracy, your leadership marks a pivotal moment for women in politics. We are hopeful about a future driven by equality, free from corruption and nepotism.

May you have more courage and strength more than any other day to be the role model for future women and youth who aspire to be in politics.

"