Want to keep your child safe from cyber crime?

CHENNAI: Thomas Friedman was totally right when he said that technology had rendered the world flat. The Internet, social networking sites, and the high-end phones have opened up a plethora of possibilities and opportunities. However, if  shocking media reports are to be believed, children are ill-equipped to handle probable threats that come along with this exciting new medium.“Banning children from accessing the Internet, social networking sites, online gaming or using a mobile phone is not going to work. Being children, they will be curious, wanting to push their boundaries and predisposed to take risks. So, the key here is not banning but rather orienting them towards the possible threats and how they can keep themselves safe; this is what every parent should do,” said Vidhya Reddy of Tulir - Centre for the Prevention and Healing of Child Sexual Abuse.Talking to City Express about the role of parents, she insisted, “It is very important for children to know, that anytime, no matter what, they can always walk up to their parents and talk about their issues. I think it is time that we go back to some good old-fashioned parenting where parents create a congenial climate, where the child doesn’t feel that he or she is being judged, but is rather accepted and listened to.”Reddy offered some valuable suggestions on the checks and balances that can be followed. One is that the parents can be on the friends’ lists of children in Facebook, so that they can have an idea of what is happening there. Narrating an experience, Reddy said that during an interactive session with kids who were into online gaming, how one child got into a chat with one of the players, which eventually turned abusive and the kid immediately logged off. “I think this is something children can be taught to do, sign off, rather stay  and get hurt or abused,” she said.               Shrikanth, the parent of a 14-year-old teenager who has a Facebook profile, said, “Initially, I was apprehensive, but now, I am all right. I believe in moderate control, I have put up a firewall, to see that certain sites are kept off limits. After 9.30 pm everyday, she is not allowed to access the Internet. She has been trying to convince me to get her a high-end mobile, but for now, she is only allowed to use the Wi-Fi at home. As parents, we have kept an open atmosphere where if she has any issues regarding anything, she can always walk up and confide in us.”Narrating further, he said, “I also became her friend on her Facebook page. Only later, I discovered that she keeps separate Facebook profiles for family and friends. But that is how children are.”Priya, the mother of a teenage boy who owns an Xbox, a Dell tablet and a range of gizmos, said, “My son loves his gizmos. He is quite aware of the tech security threats and actually advices me on net security, and never allows me to open a spam mail.“I enjoy a very open relationship, so he always tells me, who is on the phone.  Most of the times, he narrates the conversations, and I know all his friends both online and offline.  Though we have given him his freedom, we ensure, that when he is on the game or on the net, we  make sure that the door to his room is never closed, so that any time, we  can casually walk in and check out what he is doing,” she added. Dr Sudhakar, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, Cyber Crime, Chennai Police, listed out a set of precautionary measures. He said, “In the social networking sites, there is a huge possibility of children developing familiarity with  a person whom they have never met, and whose real identity is not known to them.  My advice to kids is, please do not share your personal details with anyone whom you know only through the net.”Avoid web cam and video chats. We can never be sure how it can be misused. With the high-end mobile phones, monitoring is difficult for parents. But parents can ensure that the computer is kept in a common area in the house, so that they can keep an eye on what the child is accessing from the net, observed Dr Sudhakar.Schools have an important role to play. They can have regular sessions for children on how to safeguard themselves in cyber space with illustrative anecdotes in moral science classes. And parents need to  develop a conducive climate at home so that  children, without the fear of being judged, will openly talk about their problems with them.