How to help parents help their children navigate the cyberspace without falling prey to online stalking and abuse is a question that has been vexing law enforcers everywhere. It is a concern that has acquired an element of urgency with reports, though officially unconfirmed, that the online game Blue Whale Challenge is influencing vulnerable youngsters to take their own lives. An IPS officer has taken upon himself the role of an educator of parents on the dangers that lurk in the cyberworld.
K. Sanjay Kumar Gurudin, Commandant of the Kerala Armed Police Battalion IV stationed at Mangattuparamba here and who uses his spare time to sensitise parents to potential dangers their children face every day if they are not properly safeguarded against cyber-bullying, sexual grooming, harassment, identity theft and breach of privacy, has come out with a book to create wider awareness about online harassment and abuse.
The book, titled Is Your Child Safe? , is the product of his interactions with victims of cyber abuses and their parents during his previous stints as the Deputy Commissioner of Police in Thiruvananthapuram, District Police Chief in Kannur and as an officer of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Lucknow.
He firmly believes that conventional solutions to online abuse could throw up more trouble than solutions and calls for carefully calibrated approach to each offence in the cyberworld. All the talk about the Blue Whale Challenge , he feels, is one such counter-productive strategy.
“We are becoming so fuzzy about the Blue Whale Challenge and think we can stop it by banning it. But our chatter would only make the youngsters more curious and banning is no solution as similar games may pop up with different names with different set of daredevil assignments tomorrow. The most important thing to do is to equip children to be aware of the dangers of such online groups that work on peer pressure,” he says.
An IPS officer of 2006 batch, Mr. Gurudin has for the past two years been collecting case studies of cybercrime to add to his own experiences during his policing work. In 2015 he made a three-fold pamphlet mentioning basic things to bear in mind to keep children and adults safe online. He also made a short video presentation to sensitise parents about online dangers their children face.
“We have to invest time to build resilience and confidence in our children by making them aware of the risks involved,” he notes, stressing that there is no alternative to good communication. The State Education Department has shown keen interest in his initiatives and his inputs might be included in the curriculum soon.
