Online Threats, Risks And Digital Parenting - Nirmal Singh 3c Company

You cannot deny the fact that Internet has made things easier for children. It has brought in endless benefits and opportunities for young children and has impacted their educational structure tremendously over the last few years. But it also has exposed children to digital dangers and crimes. You don’t have to be a certain age to be exposed to these dangers, but young children who don’t know any better are always an easy target for the online predators. Unlike the real world, in the digital world everyone is connected to everyone, there is no filter or boundary. - Nirmal Singh 3C Company

Adult offenders are always on prowl – they exploit children and lure them in sexual conversations. Online bullying has always been a serious issue, but cyber offenses against children have increased drastically because of the ease with which internet is available nowadays. New ways to exploit and abuse children are coming in – a challenge not only limited to India.

No attention is given to online abuse. India doesn’t even have a framework that can take care of such issues. The policy makers have not taken online abuse and exploitation into consideration while protecting the interests of the underage population of the country. Plus, the ability to be anonymous or to impersonate someone else has made things even worse. You don’t know with whom you’re conversing, who is looking at your pictures, and who has access to your personal data.- Nirmal Singh 3C Company

With the deterrent factor of the current law in India being so low, it is the responsibility of the parents to not only educate their children about the seriousness of online offenses and bullying but to also keep an eye on their online activities until a certain age.

What activities on the internet can be innocent or legal? Online chatting can be healthy if your child is indulging with people he/she knows about – positive content or educational websites are also helpful. But what parents should keep an eye out for is the shadow area as mentioned in the graphic below. Chatting with strangers and watching age inappropriate content on the internet are the things that are seen by the experts as the starting point of negative or harmful internet usage. This can be supervised by monitoring regular internet usage and by educating your children about the consequences. - Nirmal Singh 3C Company