Jamshedpur: A growing number of children in the country are falling prey to cyber-bullying, stalking and hacking, thanks to smart gadgets and easy access to Internet.
The lack of awareness about potential cyber harm and how to avoid is what makes young people vulnerable. Such instances can have long-term negative impact and may cause extreme psychological damage.
Today, online crime is a concern not just for parents and teachers, but schools and educational institutes as it affects the social conditioning on a deeper level.
To help students tackle the online bug, Cyber Peace Foundation, a Ranchi-based organisation, will organise one-day workshops for steel city kids next month with the help of local NGO Kalpavriksh Foundation.
Three cradles - Narbheram Hansraj English School in Bistupur, Dayanand Public School in Sakchi and Hill Top School in Telco - will host the workshops on cyber peace between July 5 and July 7.
The foundation has been working across the country to help school students tackle cyber issues. The workshop will include ways to positively handle the virtual world and stay away from cyber crime.
"Students fall easy prey to all kinds of cyber crimes, be it bullying, hacking or pornography. Our job is to teach them how to stay safe in the virtual world. We have already conducted such workshops in Ranchi and other cities. This is the first time we are coming to Jamshedpur," said founder and president of Cyber Peace Foundation Vineet Kumar.
The workshop will conduct miniature programming competitions to test logical, blog-writing and video-making skills to showcase cyber security concepts. It will also discuss about the do's and don'ts of cyber world and encourage students to use the Internet positively. Schools will also get a chance to form cyber peace corps to prevent students from falling prey to cyber crime.
"It's a burning issue and kids are most vulnerable to cyber crime. I think schools must take initiatives to keep their students updated who in turn can help their peers and juniors," Dayanand Public School principal Swarna Mishra said.
