Asian School of Cyber Laws’ survey shed light on some really interesting stats and data as to the manner in which school-going children and the youth of the country view social networking sites and other similar mediums. According to the published report, social networking sites have indeed found an integral spot in the teens’ and school students’ life. Surprisingly, many underage students have also found using social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc. This comes as a shock since most social networking platforms have set age limits and other barriers in order to prevent children aged below 18 to access unsuitable content on the Internet. According to the survey, 67% school children stated having started using Facebook before the age of 10 and 82% of students reported having received vulgar, offensive or abusive emails or Facebook messages. It was alarming to note that almost 42% of students feel it is not a crime to use pirated software in India. The survey also revealed that 36% children did not know most of their their Facebook friends in real life and just added them as friends for the sake of it. With recent increases in instances of cyber bullying and stalking, this stat is quite significant.

Mr. Rohan Nagpal, the President also presided over the proceedings. He had something to say: “The survey revealed several shocking outcomes. This survey is an eye opener for various schools and family on how to ensure cyber safety norms for their children and keep them safe in the virtual world.”

ASCL is a pioneering institute in India in cyber law education, training and research. It has assisted the Government of India in framing draft rules and regulations under the Information Technology Act and drafting model rules for the functioning of Cyber Cafes. It has also assisted the Controller of Certifying Authorities in drafting regulations relating to the recognition of foreign certifying authorities. Among other things, ASCL has provided academic support to the National Consultation meeting on Enforcement of Cyber Law held at New Delhi on 31st January 2010 as well.

India has a social networking penetration of about five percent of the total population, and I expect these numbers to rapidly explode. And alarmingly, fifty percent of our Internet users don’t use a cyber security suite or solution to keep them protected whilst on the Internet. India is to gain around 6.6 crore social media users by June this year, and I’m betting most of these will be young students. Cyber security is therefore a priority and this survey conducted by ASCl is a good move towards the shift.

Cyber security involves protecting the information and systems we rely on every day—whether at home, work or school. Cyber security has been becoming a growing concern among the Netizens and also a complex challenge  thanks to the rising sophistication of cyber attacks every day, especially among children and school students. I feel that it is very important for parents to take the time to be sure that children are not allowed to be on the Internet without a trusted adult monitor who will take the necessary steps to make sure that their children are not exposed to things that are not appropriate.

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Image Courtesy |  computing

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