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With early access to the internet, Indian children are becoming easy targets for cyber bullies, says a study by McAfee.
They are at risk of revealing personal information and pose a challenge to parenting, the study adds.
The anti-virus software company spoke to 1,000 children between eight and 12, dubbed tweens, across seven metropolises in the country to find out their web vulnerabilities. Despite 13 being the recommended age for starting a Facebook account, close to 70 per cent admitted to holding an account. Of this, 89 per cent have let their parents know it, too.
“As it is, the Internet is not a bad thing but I’m worried about the sites they visit. There are many pop-ups that could take them to ‘bad’ websites,” said Anindita Mishra, who heads McAfee’s initiative to educate the public on proper Internet behaviour.
Close to 53 per cent of the children said their parents take away Internet devices — tablets, mobiles and laptops — an hour before bedtime, and 49 per cent found the time limitations frustrating. How to correct Internet behaviour without turning them hostile is the tricky part, according to educationist Meeta Sengupta.
In Australia, parents enter into a contract with their children where they lay down rules governing Internet access.
Among the networking sites frequented by kids, Skype and Twitter closely follow Facebook. While 44 per cent have Skype accounts, 27 per cent are on Twitter.
Twenty-seven per cent have been subject to hurtful posts on social media, of which only 46 per cent have confided in their parents. Thirty-six per cent have chatted with strangers. An earlier survey of 700 teenagers had shown that 31 per cent met strangers they had later come to know on the social media.
Sengupta said the Central Board of Secondary Education is drafting a cyber safety policy for schools. At present, schools address the issue by simply disallowing certain websites, she said.
There are concerns over account security, as well. About a fourth of the children surveyed have their names as the password to their social media accounts. For 27 per cent, it is their birthdays.
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