A GLOBAL mobile phone giant has found in a new region-wide survey that 49 percent of school students in Bangladesh have been victims of cyber bullying in a way or the other, revealing that young people are increasingly becoming vulnerable to such harassment.
To better understand online behaviours, Telenor Group recently released the results of its Safe Internet study, which examined internet safety knowledge among students across three of its markets in the region: Bangladesh, Thailand and Malaysia. The study analysed school students’ responses to various internet-related threats such as cyber bullying and peer pressure in order to understand the factors influencing behaviour patterns and to develop solutions towards making the web a safer environment.
The study revealed that over half of the pupils in all three countries — 70 percent in Malaysia, 67 percent in Thailand and 61 percent in Bangladesh — would not send explicit messages, also known as ‘sexting’ online. The study found that 49 percent of pupils in Bangladesh said they succumbed to at least one form of peer pressure, in comparison to a lesser 39 percent of Malaysian students and only 35 percent of Thai students.
The inaugural region-wide study also demonstrated that school students in all three countries tend to consult with parents and teachers when faced with online issues that they do not know how to solve alone. In Bangladesh, 38 percent students said that they would consult with their parents in comparison with 55 percent of the surveyed pupils in Thailand likely to approach their parents and 47 percent in Malaysia.
It is not very difficult to prevent online bullying – parents can restrict access to their children of online sites which may make them prone to bullying. They can educate their kids to better use social media to ensure that they can easily block anyone on facebook if someone sends them threatening or derogatory texts. They can easily be taught to never send their personal contact details such as mobile numbers or address or pictures to anyone whom they don’t know and trust in real life. These simple methods can do a lot to prevent online bullying and harassment of teens and kids. If they are not followed they can easily lead to situations where the child can commit suicide, as has happened in certain cases.
While it is difficult, if not impossible to prevent access to social or electronic media, parents can educate their children to use these media in a safe and responsible manner to ensure that they can respond promptly to threats, harassment and intimidation. This education is essential for today’s millennial kids who grow up using cell phones and tablet PCs. Ultimately prevention is far better than cure.
