MINIMIZING ABUSE OF ICT

Structure
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Objectives
I
2.3 Abuses of ICT
2.4 Role of Teacher: Towards Safe Use of ICT
2.5 Role of Teacher: Creating Awareness among Students for the Safe
Use of ICT
2.6 Role of Teacher: Creating Awareness among Parents for the Safe
Use of ICT

7 Let Us Sum Up
8 Answers to Check Your Progress
I
9 References 1
1- INTRODUCTION I
11,is needless to say anythmg- about the potentiality of the ICT and its requirement
in work place. You and your students might be using ICT for preparing school
assignment, completion of project, learning new skills, research, communication
with friends and peers, and entertainment. Both you and your students might be
more fiequently and heavily relying on Internet than other ICT tools to perform
the above mentioned task. The probable reason may be that Internet is a powerfid
resource enabling people of all ages to learn and communicate in a myliad of new
ways for children, growing up in a world where the Internet has always been
available. It is an essential tool. They are the 'digital natives'- always surrounded
'by online technology, and using the Internef from an increasingly early age. However,
acldiction to the use of ICT on part of students put themselves in risky situations.
In this unit, we will discuss the various abuses of ICT by students and the roles
of' teacher and parents to minimise the abuse of ICT.

2.2 OBJECTIVES
Aiter studying the unit, you will be able to:

(I identify the sources and types of abuse that takes place through ICT;
f ' recognize and avoid the hidden dangers of ICT in teaching-learning process;

/1
provide the practical advice to students for safe use of ICT at school and
home; and
1 create awareness among parents about different types ICT abuse and its
19
I precautions
ICT a d Value Development
2.3 ABUSES OF ICT
The availability and accessibility of ICT have helped students in performing
learning tasks in a more effective and efficient manner. But very oRen students
get addicted to the use of ICT and indulge themselves in various kinds of abuses.
Some of these abuses are the following:

giving out personal details about themselves to people or organizations they

don't know

posting inappropriate information online

agreeing to meet people they have not known

using provocative pseudonyms and sharing passwords

posting public profiles about themselves

unsafe browsing or searching

opening messages from people they do not know

responding to unpleasant or suggestive messages

accessing inappropriate or illegal material

The outcomes of such innocent activities of the children are forcing parents and
guardians to pay heavy price i.e. online harassment, suicide and depression etc.
You might be aware from the national media that there have been a number of
high profile cases recently regarding child protection and the abuse of the internet
and mobile phones. In this situation your duty is very vital as a teacher and a
responsible citizen of the society to guard against the abuse of ICT by the
students at school, at home and also in public places.

2.4 ROLE OF TEACHER: TOWARDS SAFE USE

OF ICT
There is a growing need across the world for more use of ICT in teaching-
learning process while many parents are ICT illiterate particularly in the developing
countries. But they are supposed to meet the requirements of their kids as well
as schools. In this situation, your responsibilities for the judicious use of ICT are
very important. The following specific points you need to keep in mind while using

a) Supervision and monitoring: Use of the internet by students should be

supervised by you in a manner that is appropriate for their age and
circumstances of use. Computers used by students need to be positioned
in such a manner that the screens are generally visible to supervisor.

You need to understand and be attentive to indicators that may

provide clues that a student may be engaging in highly inappropriate or
potentially dangerous online behaviour.
 You also need to be attentive to student use of ICT that may be Generatingkvareness:
harassing or bullying other students. Minimising Abmw of ICT

b) Use Filtering Software: If you don't want your students to check each and
every site on the internet, then the use of filtering software limits access of
students to certain sites, words, or images.

c) Permit age appropriate usage: Elementary students need to use the

education website or classroom websites as their primary source of access
to materials on the Internet. You have to closely supervise students accessing
any other websites on the Internet than education website or classroom
website.

6) Avoiding inappropriate content: Students should not engage in activities

that are unlawful, utilize inappropriate language, engage in plagiarism or
copyright inhgement and engage in actions that jeopardize the security of
the system. Sometimes young internet users can access inappropriate material
inadvertently, when searching for content about people, places or issues.
Some websites promote extreme political, violent, racist or sexist views.
Such contents can be accessed through website browsing, through
newsgroups, shared in peer-to-peer networks or sent by email or instant
messaging services. Sometimes, it may be intentional.

a) Avoiding unintentional access: If students use the Internet without having

any educational purpose, they may be exposed to pornographic web sites
and other websites teaching how to make a bomb, to kill, to commit other
crimes, to commit suicide, or to encourage activities that are dangerous or
illegal. There is a serious threat to young minds if they become obsessed with
these sites.

f) Recognizing and dealing with unwanted SPAM: Recognized that more

users leave their e-mail addresses; the more likely it is that they will end up
on a spammer's list of e-mail addresses. Spammers use search technologies
to "harvest" e-mail addresses from public places on the Internet. The most
popular places to harvest e-mail addresses are contest entries, bulletin board
r and kid's clubs.

. g) Remind the students about protection of privacy: Students should not

be encouraged and required to provide personal information, including their
e-mail addresses on sites unless there has been a review of the privacy
policy. If any particular user is having difficulties with extensive amounts of
SPAM it may be necessary to determine what activities they are engaging in
that are leading to the harvesting of their e-mail addresses.

h) Promptly contact appropriate legal authorities: You should save any

pornographic e-mail messaze and unwanted materials that a pupil has
received and immediately bring to the notice of the administrator, and police.
During this process involve students about how it is saved and reported to
legal authorities. One advantage, however, of online harassment and bullying
is tangible evidence in the form of actual electronic messages. Once a few
I students are detected and punished for sending such harassing or bullyirlg
messages, the impact of the tangible evidence would be well unde~stoodby
all students in the school. 2I
ICY andVJreDevaOpment i) Discourage to navigate unreliable information: The Internet is a valuable
research tool for students, providing a wide range of useful information.
Students may not realize however, that information on some websites
misrepresents truth, and is misleading, out of date, biased or simply incorrect.
They need to distinguish fact from fiction online and learn the basics about
copyright. They also need to develop good browsing and searching skills to
ensure that they visit safe sites and find appropriate information. Thus, you
should help them to refrain from navigating unreliable information by the
following ways:

Review a website before using it. How old is the information? Who wrote
it? Does the website have contact details, privacy policy or copyright
statement?

If not, find another website and advise students to use several sources of
information and compare them.

3 Some general finger tips: Sometimes beginners unknowingly misuse ICT

as discussed earlier and in doing so they also exploit you. Thus you should
keep in mind some finger tips to protect yourselves and encourage safe use
of ICT in the long run.

Under no circumstances you or your staff should give personal mobile numbers
or e-mail addresses to students. If tuition is to take place via computer, make
sure this is done through school based computer equipment. Never involve
yourself in personal text messaging.

Under no circumstances you should take a note of students' mobile numbers

or e-mail addresses other than for school records.

Never knowingly give permission to students to take your photograph with

their own mobile phone.

Remember that if you or others load images of your self on the Internet, they
will remain there and may find their way into Internet searches prior to
interview.

Staff should be cautious about publishing photographs or other sensitive

information on social networking sites such as My space, twitter or Face
book.

Always keep passwords secure and limited to those on a "need to know"

basis. Remember that if you leave the computer running and leave the rooms
it can be tampered with by students and may leave you open to exploitation.
Wherever possible, good practice would be to lock the computer by pressing
Ctl-Alt-Del and press K for the d&ation of your absence.

Be very careful what you store on mobile phone. If it is taken by students,

they may get information which could be embarrassing in a number of ways.
I 1<3Tand Value Development There are some sites on the Internet that are only for adults. If they happen
to access one of them, tell them to leave it immediately and tell thkir parents
about it.
Never reveal their screen names or passwords to anyone.

I Always check with their parents before registering at a website, even if the
site is free.
Never give out credit card information without parents' permission.
Never send their photos over the Internet without their parents' permission.

2.6 ROLE OF TEACHER: CREATING

AWARENESS AMONG PARENTS FOR THE
SAFE USE OF ICT
Students in elementary school presumably use the ICT tools safely while at school.
Students in these grades and their parents should receive instruction in essentially
ICT safety skills, especially those related to avoiding the inadvertent access to
inappropriate sites and shlls for independently dealing with the sites. Thus, you
and your school authority need to create awareness among the parents how their
kids might abuse ICT tools if they are not personally involved to supervise their
child's activities related to the use of ICT. Subsequently, you should orient them
how to anchor upon the abuse of ICT tools at home. You can provide them these
information and skills in Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and Mother Teacher
Association (MTA) meetings and also by organizing Special Orientation
Programmes for Parents on ICT (SOPP) in summer break. You can also make
request to the district authority to organize special broadcast programme for
parents through which awareness may be created among parents and also provide
them essential slulls to deal with the situation. Now you may think what are those
information and skills which need to be addressed to the parents. Let's have a
brief discussion of these essential information and skills.
a) How to ase the Internet safely at home: Internet safety is equally important
at home, as it is in the library and other public places. By ensuring cyber
safety in any location, you can make children enjoy fun and rewardmg online
experiences. Thus, parents should be informed how they can be careful
about their children's Internet activities in the following ways:
They should be very careful of where the computer is placed. If it is in
a bedroom, move it to a public area of the home where it is easier to
supervise children using it.
They should ensure that their Internet service provider assist and advice
for staying safe online.
They need to create an Internet safety contract with children, setting
house rules for internet use.
They should make sure that safety software is installed on the computer.
This may include an Internet content filter and other security s o h a r e
such as anti-virus programs, spyware and adware.
They should learn about the Internet and the types of Internet services
24 children make use of.
r They should discuss the benefits and risks of going online with children GeneratingAwareness:
and offer support if they get into trouble. MinimisingAbuse of ICT

Above all, they should keep the lines of communication open. Children
need to be confident that they can talk to their parents about what's
happeniw.
b
b) How to use mobile phones safely: Mobile phone is a common electronic
gadget these days. Many crimes and exploitations are happening through this
simple handset. It is very essential that parents need to be informed how well
they use the cell phone and also teach their children to think about safety
when using a cell phone. This includes:
Use photo and video-sharing by phone with care: Parents should
encourage their children to think about their privacy and that of others
before they share photos and videos via cell phone. It's easy to post
photos and videos online without the knowledge-let alone the OK- of
the photographer or the person in the shot. It could be embarrassing
and even unsafe.
Use good judgment with mobile social networking: Many social
networking sites have a feature that allows users to check their profiles
and post comments from their phones, allowing access from anywhere.
That means the filters they have installed on their home computer won't
limit what kids can do on a phone. Thus they should talk to their
children about using good sense when they are engaged in social
networking from their phones.
Get familiar with social mapping: Many mobile phones now have GPS
technology installed: kids with these phones can pinpoint where their
friends are-and be traced by their friends. Advice kids to use these
features only with friends they know in person and trust.
Be smart about smart phones: Many phones include web access. If
children are going to use a phone and parents are concerned about
what they might find on the net, they should turn off web access or turn
on filtering.
I
t Develop cell phone rules: Parents should talk to their children about
i when and where it's appropriate to use cell phones. They can also
establish rules for mobile use- like not to allow use of cell phones during
dinner, late night or during home work.
Set an example: Parents should be informed that they should be an ideal
cell phone user before their children. So they should avoid using cell
phone-texting, surfing, or t a h g during driving, etc.

c) How to protect privacy: Without considering the consequences, children

sometimes post private information about themselves online. This can include
their nanes or addresses, photographs, mobile numbers, their school names
and details of their fiiends or families. Providing personal information online
can also result in being targeted for spam, advertising material and/or viruses.
In some cases, websites prompt users to reveal private information on forms
or through pop-ups. Not all these requests are legitimate. Parents should
take the following steps to guard privacy:
ICT andValue Development Children should be encouraged to ask their parents or guardians before
they give anyone on the internet their personal details. Once information
is posted online it is very difficult to remove.
Teach them not to reply to people they do not know. Talk about
possible scenarios that they might encounter online. And, most important,
listen to your kids when they talk about their issues. Don't preach*or
try to fix problems, because sometimes they just need to talk about
their feelings. If you don't listen to them, they find someone who will.
Never allow children to fill forms online without your lcnowledge and
consent which give out names, addresses and telephone numbers. This
is a major source for pedophiles in contacting children.
Contact the author or the web administrator if a website contains personal
details that have been disclosed without authorization of their children's
personal details. Web administrator details are commonly located on
website home pages. A lawyer may also be able to provide assistance.

6) How to control cyber bullying: Cyber bullying is harassment that happens

online. Children using the Internet can be cyber bullied or harassed through
Intemet services like e-mail, chat rooms, social networks, an online game,
sending unwanted or threatening messages or defamatory material. Bullying
through mobile phone technologies such as SMS is also considered cyber
bullying. While it can have a damaging effect on children and young people,
parents should be informed how to take control of the situation. This may
be done by:
Don't react. If your child is targeted by a cyber bully, tell them not to
respond. Bullies usually look for a reaction from their targets. Instead,
encourage your child to work
Keep a record of the harassing messages and any replies. This may
help parent., or the authorities, if necessary, to find out who is sending
them.

Keep usernames and passwords secret. If someone misuses a username

and password to post damaging information about a child it can be
difficult to remove.
Ask your kids to let you know if an online message or image makes
them feel threatened or hurt. If you fear for your child's safety, contact
the police.
Contact the website administrator (often known as the webmaster) to
ask for content to be removed, if bullying information has been posted
on that website.

e) How to minimize SPAM: Any library user, including children with a personal
e-mail address or mobile phone, can receive unwanted messages and
attachments which can carry viruses or the sending of a large amount of
unwanted information to crash somebody's computer. These are called spam.
Spam messages may be appropriate, offensive or contain computer viruses.
They frequently promote products or services, but can simply be a message
26 claiming to be from a 'seat$admirer or friend'. Responding to these messages
 can lead to further sparn. Thus parents should be informed and oriented in Generatinghwareness:
MinimisingAbuse of ICT
the following ways how to deal with the spam:
Teaching the kids never to open an e-mail message unless they know
who the sender is.
Helping the kids in recognizing SPAM prior to opening the message
and transfer the unopened messages to the trash file. SPAM is usually
pretty easy to recognize. The sender's name is usually disguised,
frequently with lots of numbers. The subject lines contain fascinating
"enticements," such as: "Make money at home. ""You just won." "See
my new web site." "A special message for you." "Look at my new
girlfriend." When SPAM messages are opened, they immediately display
inappropriate material.These messages should be immediately transferred
to the trash file without opening.
If the sparn is sent via a mobile phone, it is best not to open attachments
from unknown sources. Computer viruses are designed to destroy files
in a computer system.
The receipt of pornographic SPAM or any other sexually explicit e-mail
by kids should be treated as a criminal matter. Such actions are likely
to be in violation of criminal laws. The police should be informed of
this.

f) How to navigate social networking: Social networking happens on a

variety of services like YouTube, Myspace, Face book and Twitter. Socializing
online can help kids connect with friends and even their family members, but
it's important to help children learn how to navigate these spaces safely.
Among the pitfalls that come with online socializing are sharing too much
information, or posting pictures, video, or words that can damage a reputation
or hurt someone's feelings. Thus parents should be informed to monitor the
online activities of their kids in the following ways:
Reminding kids that once they post information online, they can't take
it back. Even if they delete the information from a site, they have little
control over older versions that may exist on other people's computers
and circulate online.
Some social networking sites, chat rooms, and blogs have strong privacy
settings. Talk to kids about these settings.
Encouraging children to be careful about making new friends online-
they might not actually be, who they say they are-and never arrange to
meet an online friend unless a trusted adult is with them.
Encouraging children to remember that online fiiends are really strangers
no matter how long they know them online. Children should speak to
them or the teacher if an online friend asks to meet in real life.
Asking kids who they're in touch with online. Just as they want to know
who their kids' friends are offline; it's a good idea also to know whom
they're talking to online.
Contacting the police if they think their child is in immediate danger
from contact made online.
ICT amlva1ue~eve1b~ment k d g how to keep a copy of onhe conversations. Keeping records
is useful if there is a need to report suspicious behaviour.

g) How to deny access to inappropriate content: Children using the Internet

can be exposed to content that is inappropriate for them. This could be
images, text or games that are sexually explicit or offensive, violent or
encourage activities that are dangerous or illegal. Some websites promote
extreme political, violent, racist or sexist views. This content can be accessed
through website browsing. To protect children from such content, the parents
should be provided with the following information:
The parent should install blocking software in the computer which denies
access to certain sites, based on key words or "bad site" lists. Examples
include Net Nanny, CYBER sitter, Cyber Patrol, and Surf Watch.
With the help of Internet service provider they can install software that
allows them to view the approved sites and to add or delete sites
according to their judgment: child's age and maturity level.
They can also ask Internet service providers about the brief history of
websites browsed by their children in a week which may help them to
monitor work of the children.
Check Your Progress 2
1. Elucidate the role of teacher in creating awareness among the students
on the safe use of ICT.
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
2. What is meant by SPAM? How the parents can be oriented to deal with
SPAM?
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
i

2.7 LET US SUM UP

This unit is exclusively devoted to orient how to create awareness among students
and their parents about various types of abuse-pomograplly, cyber bulling,
depression, sexual exciting etc. taking place through ICT and their role and
responsibilities to escape from such unwanted happenings. As 21" century
classroom cannot go ahead without the help of these modern electronic gadgets.
On the other hand, these new technologies are also harmful if the users will not
be smart enough. Secondly, many parents in developing countries are ICT illiterate.
Keeping this issue in view, the unit was intended to equip you with the necessary
knowledge and skills regarding safe use of ICT tools at school and home. As a
result you can provide knowledge and skills to students and their parents about
how safely they can use ICT and also reduce abuse of ICT.
As a teacher your responsibility is to be carell of the following points while using GeneratiagAwareness:
ICT at school- frequently supervise and monitor ICT work of students; use MInimisingAbuse of fCT
filtering software in computer; permit age appropriate usage only; avoid
inappropriate content; avoid unintentional access; recognize and deal with unwanted
SPAM; remind the students about protection of privacy; promptly contact
appropriate legal authorities if found something wrong; and discourage students to
navigate unreliable information.
You are also equally responsible to create awareness among your students about
how to use the ICT tools safely at school and home. In this regard, you need to
give some finger tips to students what they should not do under any circumstances-
never give out their e-mail address and personal details; think before you post
information online; and never agree to get together in the real world with someone
they met online.
Above all you are guide for parents. Therefore, you should inform parents what
precautions they should take at home to minimize abuses of ICT. They should be
well informed that the same ICT tools can be niisused by their children if they are
not a constant watch dog. Therefore you may provide the following information
to parents-placing the computer/TV in such a place that 24x7 they may supervise
the work of their children, not allowing sophisticated cell phones, asking about
their online friends, installing filtering software in computer, setting rules for using
Internet and watching TV and being a model as an ideal user of ICT, etc.

2.8 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Check Your Progress 1
1. Some of the abuses of ICT are the following:
giving out personal details about themselves to people or organizations
they don't know
posting inappropriate information online
agreeing to meet people they've not known
ever met online, without speaking to a parent or carer
2. Some general finger tips for teachers to protect themselves and encourage
safe use of ICT are as follows:
Under no circumstances one should give personal mobile numbers or
e-mail addresses to students. If tuition is to take place via computer,
make sure this is done through school based computer equipment.
Under no circumstances one should take a note of students' mobile
numbers or e-mail addresses other than for school records.
Never knowingly give permission to students to take the teachers
photograph with their own mobile phone.
Staff should be cautious about publishing photographs or other sensitive
information on social networking sites such as My Space, Bebo or
Facebook.
m andvalueDevelopment Check Your Progress 2
1. The following points need to be inculcated in the minds of children to have
a safe use of ICT.
Tell the students that they should never give out their e-mail address
without checking with their parentslteachers.
Remind them that think before they post information online-once posted
it's difficult to remove.
Tell them to ask their parentslteachers before they give anyone, on the
internet, their names, addresses or any personal details. Examples of
personal information are their real names, addresses, and phone numbers,
their parents' work addresses and phone numbers, and the name and
location of their school.
Advise them not to get together in the real world with someone who
they have met online without first talking to their parents. If their parents
agree to the meeting, be sure it's in a public place and they should not
be allowed to go alone.
2. The unwanted E-rnaiYmobile messages and attachments which carry viruses
or a large amount of unwanted information to crash somebody's computer
are called SPAM.
The parents should be informed and oriented on the following ways and
means to deal with the spam:
Teaching the kids never to open an e-mail message unless they know
who the sender is.
Helping the kids in recognizing SPAM prior to opening the message
and transfer the unopened messages to the trash file. SPAM is usually
pretty easy to recognize.
If the spam is sent via a mobile phone, it is best not to open attachments
fix ~r n unknown sources.
The receipt of pornographic SPAM or any other sexually explicit e-mail
by their kids should be treated as a criminal matter. The police should
be informed of this.

2.9 REFERENCES
Aftab, Parry, (2000). 'The Parents Guide to Protecting Your Children In
Cyberspace ', McGraw Hill Publishing Co., Maidenhead, Berkshire, U.K.
Ahn, J. and Randall, G (2007). Computer Game Addiction. Available at: http:/
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Amici, Curiae (2001). Effects of violent video games on aggressive behaviour,
aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal and pro social
behaviour: a meta-analytic review of the scientific literature. Psychological
Science,l2 (5) pp.353-359.
Anderson, C. and Bushman (2001). Effects of violent video games on aggressive
 behaviour, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and Generating l\wareness:
prosocial behaviour. A meta-analyhc review of the scientific li~turePsychological MinirnisingA1,useof ICT
Science, 12, pp.353-359.
Buckingharn, D. and Willett, R. (eds.) (2006). Digital Generations: Children,
Young People and New Media. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
7

Bullying Online (2006).The National Bullying Survey ?006:7he Results. Available

at: http://wwwbullying.co.uk/~ti~nals~~ey/th~tidbdyin~wey-~d~.~
Itzin,.C., Taket, A., Kelly, L., (2007).The evidence of harm to adults relating
to exposure to extreme pornographic material: a rapid evidence assessment.
Ministry of Justice Research Series 11/07.
Jenkins, P. (1 992). Intimate Enemies: Moral Panics in Contemporary Great
Britain, New York; Aldine de Gruyter
Powar.K.B,Tiwari M.D & Dikshit H.P (2002): ICT Enabled Education
,Association of Indian Universities,AIU House, New Delhi.
Online Sources:
www.cybemgc1s.org
www.chatdanger.corn
www.childnet-in{.org
www.criminology.unimelb.edu.adre~earch/internet/chi1dsafety/
I