The question — Is your child safe online? — that flashes at the beginning of the video itself sends a chill down the spine. And then, the fact that 93 per cent of parents are not aware of the online dangers of which their children are potential victims, adds to the shock value.
A video, shared on Facebook and popular messaging service WhatsApp by K. Sanjay Kumar Gurudin, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), is serving to draw attention to a fact of present day life that many parents tend to overlook.
Part of an awareness creation attempt ahead of a booklet on online safety that the City police are preparing, the two-minute video has become quite a hit, with nearly 500 shares and over 45,000 people seeing the post so far on Facebook alone.
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Pointing out that sexual predators were lurking everywhere on social media, Mr. Gurudin draws notice to the trend of parents handing over gadgets, primarily smartphones with Internet access, to their children without second thoughts and ignoring the most crucial duty of educating them of safe online practices.
“There is no doubt that Internet and social media have many advantages, but it is also true that it has exposed our children to hidden dangers. The fact that most parents are ignorant about online dangers, and that they have little time for their children, provides a perfect recipe for the child getting abused,” he says.
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e-safety clubs
The video is just a beginning of a multi-pronged approach to make children safe on the Web by educating them and their parents, with plans afoot to take the video and the booklet to as many schools as possible across the State.
e-safety clubs in schools, campaigns on social media, slideshows on television channels and screening of a shorter version of the video in movie theatres are on the cards.
An e-Safety Day observance and inclusion of online safety in the school curriculum too are being thought about.