Cyber security and the vulnerability of children to cyber-bullying, sadly, are not topics that arouse much attention. The findings of a survey by Telenor and the Boston Consulting Group, should, however, make all and sundry sit up and take notice.

Children are being bullied, stalked, humiliated and insulted, while parents and teachers aren’t doing enough to teach them how to use the Internet safely, says the Telenor-BCG report.

The 28-page study was carried out to assess the impact of Uninor’s WebWise programme in 29 schools across the country. It found that children in India face the worst-risk combination of high access and low resilience among 12 countries assessed.

Compromising on safety

“About 53 per cent of children in India have been cyber bullied. Though the Internet spread like wildfire, our ability to be resilient to cyber harm has not kept pace. This is the root cause of compromised cyber security,” the report said.

Uninor’s WebWise workshops, conducted from March to May, focussed on teaching children, teachers and parents about the dangers that lurk on the Internet and how to be secure. About 10,000 students in the 13-15 age group were covered by the programme.

The telecom service provider now plans to reach out to 15,000 students by adding more schools to the programme.

The study studied the pre- and post-workshop behaviour of children online. A significant number of students confessed that they were using the same password for different Internet activities.

The fact that Facebook admitted that there were 83 million fake profiles on the network shows the potential threat to people.

“The constantly infiltrated cyber space has put young surfers under direct threat. Hacking, cyber stalking, cyber bullying and privacy invasions can cause psychological or physical harm to children,” the report said.

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