61 woman this month | December 2011 | cyberspace. However, a child who is surfing the net without parental supervision is vulnerable to abuse from many quarters. The Centre runs a special programme — “Smart Plus” for the protection of children from abuse over the internet. “The main idea here is to have the children understand cyber-world, their place in this world and how to stay safe while interacting with people online. Workshops are held to teach children how to be careful while surfing the net and react smartly, especially in tricky situations,” says Dr Rana. For instance, children are told never to give out any real information about themselves without their parents’ permission. “They should pick a positive screen name, not something that’s belittling or provocative. They should not send pictures of themselves or family members without their parents’ knowledge. They should promptly report back to their parents if they encounter inappropriate or offensive messages or attachments and, of course, never respond to such messages,” she advises. Children are often gullible and should be warned never to trust or believe anyone they meet online as these people may be lying about everything they say. Also, they should never tell anyone online that they’re alone at home. They should also refrain from filling out survey forms or registering at a website without their parents’ permission. Parents Beware! While it is always wise to prepare children for dealing with advances from strangers, parents often need to look within and watch their own behaviour when dealing with their young ones. According to Dr Rana, the importance of educating parents cannot be undermined, since over 83 per cent of abuse is carried out by parents themselves! “Parents might abuse their children emotionally, physically, or neglect them. In many cases, the abuse is not deliberate, but happens because parents use their own experience to raise children, in absence of any programmes to guide them about parenting,” she says. Emotional abuse is the most common and many parents do not know that they are carrying it out. This comes in various forms, such as name calling, favouritism, belittling, comparison, pampering children, excessive control of children, where parents control everything and children can’t make choices or decisions, or loss of control, where parents do not have clear rules in the family, or inconsistent control, where parents set the rules, but do not follow them. Emotional abuse can affect the child’s selfesteem, can cause low sense of security, making them more prone to engage in dysfunctional relationships, face difficulties adjusting to people and struggle in controlling his/her reactions. Building Self Esteem Negative attributes such as depression, insecurity, failure and criticism can take their toll on children’s psyche, making them prone to abuse from predators. Be-Free concentrates on raising the selfesteem of children, as studies show that children with high self-esteem are less vulnerable to abuse, observes Dr Rana. During a course of workshops for children and young people, Be-Free works on empowering children and strengthening their personality, besides teaching them to “become responsible, take criticism positively and think positively”. “Every child needs to believe that he or she is a wonderful and unique person, who deserves respect from others. They should be aware of their strengths and limitations and should confidently make decisions with this awareness. Ultimately, it is not what happens to them, but how they handle it, that will determine their personality,” she points out. For more information about Be-Free Centre and its activities, log onto www.befreecentre.org
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Mjk0MTkxMQ==