About one-third of school going children surveyed in some states of India have experience cybercrime including cyberstalking, defamation, hacking and cyberbullying, as per a study by telecom operator Uninor.
“A survey done by Uninor in schools across seven states in India indicates that 30% of Indian children accessing internet have experienced some kind of cyberharm. This includes cyberbullying, cyberstalking, hacking and defamation,” the Uninor report said.
A Telenor Group-Boston Consulting Group study revealed that 134 million Indian children would be active on internet by 2017, up from 39.5 million in 2012. This study was done in 12 countries and showed that Indian children face the worst risk combination of high access and low resilience.This survey also reveals that 34 percent of children rarely speak to their parents about their online activities.
“The survey is an eye opener on the vulnerability of our children while they are using the internet. One learning is to avoid discouraging the child from using phone but to monitor their activity and have rules that keep their use in limits and create awareness on principles of online activity like safe passwords or not to provide personal information to anyone,” Uninor corporate responsibility head Pooja Thakran said.
Following the findings of the study, Uninor has set target to train 35,000 children under its ‘WebWise’ programme to build resilience among children against internet-related risks.
“WebWise is an initiative with an objective to equip children with knowledge and tools to protect themselves online. Uninor has taken the first step towards making the children web-wise,” Uninor CEO Morten Karlsen Sorby said in a statement.
Since March, 15,000 children have been covered under this programme. With its commitment to provide safe online experience to its customers, Uninor plans to extend this programme further and cover additional 20,000 children by January next year.
