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VOL. 27, NO. 46, August 01 , 2008 (Shrawan 17 2065 B.S.)
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Cyber safety and Children
-Aashis Lamsal
After the exhilarating SLC result, the enthusiasm among parents and students are increasing to accept computer education as carrier. Many private colleges and +2s are alluring students with their subliminal advertisement and eye-catching mottos as in previous years, this train going far more than previous years. Not only colleges, higher secondary schools and educational institutes, junior school also contend with each other to attract students with various schemes on computer education for instance free computer course, unlimited internet access in lab, well equipped computer lab, experienced computer faculty etc, by strewing banners, pamphlets and hoarding board around the street and market places. So that one can easily predict that the numbers of students in computer education is gradually increasing in Nepal. Some takes it as fashion some takes it as necessity. Day by day Nepalese children are going to be digital natives. They have grown up with computers and Internet as well as spend a good deal of time online while at school and at home.
While we recognize that the computer and the Internet are a powerful source of information and entertainment, we must also recognize that there is potential for malicious behavior and harmful effects. Considering only dark side and denying children access to computer and Internet, we deprive them of rich magical experience of technology. Many people, including children, have been confronted with material that is disturbing or inappropriate in Internet. There are steps parents can take to try to shield their children from such material, but it’s almost impossible to completely avoid all inappropriate material. Sadly there are some cases where children have been victimized by serious crime as a result of going online. Parents can greatly minimize the chances that their children will be victimized by teaching their children to follow the safety rules on the back cover. The fact that crimes are being committed online, however, is not a reason to avoid using these services. To tell children to stop using the Internet would be like telling them to forgo attending school because students are sometimes victimized or bullied there. A better strategy would be to instruct children about both the benefits and dangers of “cyberspace” and for them to learn how to be “street smart” in order to better safeguard themselves in any potentially dangerous situation.
Risk on Internet
There are a few risks for children who use the Internet or other online services. Teenagers are particularly at risk because they often go online unsupervised and are more likely than younger children to participate in online discussions regarding companionship, relationships, or sexual activity.
Exposure to inappropriate material a child may be exposed to inappropriate material that is sexual, hateful, or violent in nature, or encourages activities that are dangerous or illegal. Children could seek out such material but may also come across it on the web via chat areas, E-mail, or even instant messaging if they’re not looking for it.
Physical Harassment and Bullying
A child might provide information or arrange an encounter that could risk his or her safety or the safety of other family members. In some cases child molesters have used chat areas, E-mail, and instant messages to gain a child’s confidence and then arrange a face-to-face meeting. A child might encounter messages via chat, E-mail, or their cellular telephones that are belligerent, demeaning, or harassing. “Bullies,” typically other young people, often use the Internet to bother their victims.
Pedophiles are those who intentionally prey upon children. On the web they pretend to be young children themselves, earn the child's trust and gradually seduce them into sexual or indecent acts. Often this happens as the unsuspecting parent sits in the next room. Children are easy targets as they are innocent, trusting and curious.
Although not very likely, this risk does exist that while on chat, a child might provide information or arrange an encounter that could risk his or her safety or the safety of other family members. A Child may waste a lot of time in chat rooms and could increase your telephone expense if your Internet works through a telephone line
Pornography
Adult entertainment is the largest industry on the Internet. It is estimated that over half of Internet traffic is pornographic. An innocent keyword typed on some search engines or wrongly spelling a Web site's name can lead children or adults into sites that are shocking and often difficult to escape. A child innocently researching a paper for school could may accidentally come across pornographic content due to its sheer abundance on the web. Monitoring or blocking software which you install is a limited solution as new adult sites are launched daily in abundance. When children come across such sites, they may get upset, embarrassed, frightened or unfortunately even corrupted by them. This could affect the child's psychology, self-esteem.
Internet Addiction Disorder
The net can make some people too dependent on it. There are varying opinions on the subject of Internet addiction. Some say that the Internet can be addicting, to the point that it disturbs one's life and the lives of those around him. Others say that there is no such thing as Internet Addiction Disorder-- getting pleasure out of a computer is not the same as getting pleasure from cocaine or any other drug. Whether there is or is not a bona fide disorder, the Internet is surely disrupting some people's lives.
Viruses and Hackers
A child could download a file containing a virus that could damage the computer or increase the risk of a “hacker” gaining remote access to the computer; jeopardizing the family’s privacy; and, perhaps, jeopardizing the family’s safety.
Legal and Financial
A child could do something that has negative legal or financial consequences such as giving out a parent’s credit-card number or doing something. While children need a certain amount of privacy, they also need parental involvement.... that violates another person’s rights. Legal issues aside, children should be taught good “netiquette” which means to avoid being inconsiderate, mean, or rude. There are many sites on the web that allow people to gamble with real money or just "for fun." In some cases these sites may be operating legally in the jurisdiction where they are physically located but it is generally illegal (and inappropriate) for minors to gamble regardless of where they are.
Recent international media reports have noted the growth of incident such as- Online identity theft, cyber-bullying, sexual abuse of child avatars, computer addiction etc. One noted incident, in South Korea, 28 years old man collapsed and died after playing online game at an Internet café for 50 hours straight in August 2005. Similarly, the Singapore police recently helped rescue a 16-year-old boy who was kidnapped by a lady pedophile.
Internet crime in Nepal has begun although still a nascent stage. It is sagacious to be aware of the danger, which Nepalese children may encounter, and what precaution you can take. All teacher and parents need to be aware of the issue and threats that their children can be faced with when using computer and the Internet and ensure their children use computers and Internet responsibly. School administration also keeps some attention on these crucial issues rather than cheap popularity and money. School should accouter the teachers with first-rate cyber safety and Internet crime education. Teachers will need to be armed up with up to date, comprehensive and age appropriate teaching materials and understanding of cyber safety. We must have to recognize that cyber-safety is an important part of children’s overall health and well being, yet it is one that is not being adequately addressed by Nepal Government and other child related NGOs and INGOs. Just as we teach children about the risks of smoking, drinking, Government should teach children how to be responsible cyber-citizens and about the importance of cyber safety.
Although there have been cases of Internet abuse (including Cyber stalking, Porno graph and Pedophile) even in Nepal, these cases are relatively less frequent reported. The fact that crimes are being committed online, taking into account of all these factors; a number of options for cyber safety can be visualized.
What Parents Can Do
A better strategy would be to inculcate children about both the benefits and dangers of internet and for them to instruct how to be "net -wise" in order to better safeguard themselves in any potentially dangerous situation.
Another, best ways is to point children to some of the thousands of excellent sites for children and teens on the Web, to keep them busy with choices that really interest young people. We can direct them to the sections they might be interested in, where they can roam under our supervision. So we feel comfortable about bringing this new medium into our home safely, wisely, and with the knowledge to make it work for us.
In addition, there are filtering features built into the Internet browser and light software that empower parents to limit their children’s access only to those sites that have been rated appropriate for children. Most of these programs can be configured by the parent to filter out sites that contain nudity, sexual content, hateful or violent material, or that advocate the use of drugs, tobacco, or alcohol.
What Government Can Do
Government will require ISPs to offer a ‘clean feed’ Internet service to all homes, schools and public internet points accessible by children, such as public libraries. ISP policy will prevent children from accessing any content that has been identified as prohibited, including sites such as those containing child pornography and X-rated material.
Additionally, cyber-safety education will ensure that young children are provided with important cyber-safety tools from the time they are introduced to computers and to the Internet. In turn, this will ensure that children are empowered to be responsible cyber-citizens and will grow up knowing that they have options when they see something online that concerns them. Nepal Government will work with children, educators and IT specialists to improve the website for parents and teachers. The website will contain up-to-date, relevant and effective cyber safety educational material so that teachers can confidently teach children on all aspects of cyber-safety and parents are informed of cyber-issues and their effects.
Further more, Nepal Government should convene a parliamentary standing committee on Cyber-safety. The Committee will investigate and report on issues such as the prevalence of computer addiction, online identity theft, cyber-stalking, abuse of child avatars in virtual worlds and cyber-bullying involving Nepali children; the effect of such issues on children; the adequacy of cyber-safety education in Nepal; and opportunities to improve the cyber-safety of Nepali children.
Above options or combination of two or more of the above options could be another option for child safety in cyberspace. There could be other options not mentioned above. The concerned authorities need to dig them out and implement down to earth approach to a problem as soon as possible.
(The writer is computer engineer can be meet at – ashislamsal@yahoo.com)
