News of adult’s sexual abuse of young kids is scary but it is not uncommon.
Reports suggest paedophiles are most active on social media. Last year, Twitter shut down one million accounts for posting child exploitation material online. Facebook and Instagram together removed around 21 million posts of child exploitation posted on their medium.
Parents and teachers both need to be most vigilant in protecting kids and teenagers from such predators.
So what can one do from preventing it from happening?
There are things we can do to keep our children safe, says Shivanshu Asthana, an experienced IT professional.
“This issue can be tackled easily. If your kids are using an internet device like an iPad or laptop, make sure you have the parental controls software on it,” Mr Asthana told SBS Hindi.
“This will allow you to monitor their activities and you will be able to block certain sites.”
Mr Asthana says as using the internet and related technology is part of our lives now, it is important to set some rules for kids.
“Especially around chat rooms. Paedophiles generally approach kids through chatrooms. Kids must know the dangers of talking to strangers. Kids must be specifically told not to respond to strangers as kids may not be aware of their intentions,” he says.
Mr Asthana says paedophiles generally try to gauge the child’s vulnerability.
“They try to chat and figure out whether the child talks to his/her parents or tries to keep things to themselves. Therefore, it is extremely important to keep the channel of communication frank and open with your kids,” he says.
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