Helping students of grade vii and viii to decide on social networking . educating them about cybercrime

1. ADNAN PATRAWALA (sixteen year old )- Abducted and murdered. Thousands of condolence messages crowded the deceased’s profile on Orkut. Several communities were set-up to wish him eternal peace. The bereaved parents were showered with condolences on the loss of their son.

2. It became a sizzling discussion in cafeterias, tea-stalls, school grounds, college canteens and social circles. People chatted over the issue and expressed their anger. Thousands of questions were raised and debates were held over social networking sites of which, Orkut was the primary target. Something about the incident left us aghast.

3. What was the reason behind hisabduction and murder?

4. Social networking sites are the latest in-things. On the one hand where they increase a person’s friend circle, they can also increase exposure to people who could be dangerous and reckless. We need to understand that coming across even one wrong person in our entire life can have serious implications.

6. There are certain norms that we need to adhere to both in our personal as well as social lives and if we breach them by ourselves, the consequences can affect all those around us. While interacting with people on social networking sites we must remember that the person on the other side is a stranger. Didn’t mom say….never talk with strangers?

7. It might seem great to pour your heart out to someone who doesn’t know you and is incapable of judging you and only believes in what you say. But you cannot really turn to strangers for a beneficial piece of advice or to salve your wounds unless you know who the person is.

8. The Internet is emerging as the world’s biggest platform of information exchange and loads of people have access to your personal information. Your information can not only be viewed by your parents, teachers, friends and the police, but also by dangerous strangers. By imparting information about yourself to others you can communicate within a community or with the whole world. This also increases the risk of exposure to unwanted people with less than friendly intentions. The world is full of stalkers, hackers, cold blooded murderers. Anyone can tamper with your identity or make you look like a fool.

10. Secondly, they get a platform where they can vent out their feelings and emotions. But in the bargain they end up getting exposed in front of everyone. The entire concept is destroying the psychology of youngsters and is making them weak citizens.

11. Social networking sites are all over the internet and a number of youngsters tend to be misled. But one cannot blame the internet or these sites for individual actions. It is important for us to be alert and take care about the information we are passing on to others. As a ground rule one must never pass on information without knowing anything about the other person. It is better to build upon healthy contacts rather than falling in wrong hands.

12. RadhikaNarang, a Medical Student from Delhi says, “The best that parents can do is make their children aware of the consequences. I personally feel that orkut is a great platform for keeping in touch with old friends, but it is definitely not a place to build new friendships. You cannot trust people you meet everyday, then how can you trust someone you aren’t even sure exists?”

13. One needs to take several things in account while interacting with people on social networking sites:

15. The incident Abhishek had created a fake account in the name of the girl with her mobile number posted on the profile. The profile has been sketched in such a way that it draws lewd comments from many who visit her profile. The Thane Cyber Cell tracked down Abhishek from the false e-mail id that he made to open up the account.

16. The question In this case, the girl has not posted her picture or mobile number in the fake profile. A brief search in the Orkut profile will reveal many such profiles with pictures of beautiful girls. My guess is that many of these girls are not even aware of the fact that their profile exists. These are created by some other people. I will term this as “rape of the image”. Now the question is “Can we really prevent this rape?”

17. The debate The Mumbai Mirror’s report on the issue came with tips to the Orkut users. Police Sub-Inspector RavindraChauhan has been quoted as saying, “Orkut users should not put up their photographs on the site. They should not reveal personal information in their profile. Also no cellphone numbers or identity should be mentioned in the scrap book, as it is open to all.” But whether this really can be a way out, is debatable. “ What about the hundreds of CVs I send to the unknown agencies everyday? They even contain my mobile number”, says Aditi, a DU student and a hardcore Orkut addict. She does have a point.

18. On the issue of the photograph, Aditi says, “When Orkut gives an opportunity to show your face to the whole world, then why not?” When asked about the risks involved, she replied, “Who cares?” But everyone is not as carefree as Aditi. A brief search in Orkut once more will reveal profiles that have pictures of film stars, flowers, animals, sceneries and not the face of the owner.

19. “I will never put my picture on Orkut profile,” says Mansi, whose profile in Orkut carries the picture of AishwaryaRai. “It’s not safe, anybody and everybody can save it on their computer and can misuse it. ” But here again the question lies - can we really prevent it? What happens to the hundreds of passport photographs we send with the application forms all our life? Any of them can be scanned and put up without our notice. Are we sure that all copies of the digital pictures taken at our local photography shop are deleted after we leave? “I don’t know, but there is no harm in being careful,” says Mansi.

20. So perhaps even in this age of globalisation and technical advancements we will hold ourselves from showing our face to the entire world for we never know who is misusing it in what way. And as the lawmakers say “We cannot do anything, until a complaint is lodged”

21. Moral of the story