Cyber Victimization Of Adolescents A Wake Up Call For All

Abstract

The era we are living in today is a digital era. We just cannot imagine a second moment without digital connectivity. Each one of us be it a child, an adolescent or an adult, technology has become an integral part of our day to day life.  Each aspect of our life is dependent on some or the other way. School going children are also experiencing the same specially the adolescent children. Though they use it to widen their horizons in multiple aspects of life but in that due to unawareness they get trapped into the vicious circle, which is often difficult for them to break without any expert help.  

Cyber crime is conducted using computer and internet. It is the crime which is far dangerous than the war with weapons. Each day we hear of some new application for some aspect which sounds interesting to us and we download it without knowing the repercussions of it. In present time it is the data theft which is the cause of concern. Each one of us needs to be aware of cyber security. Since India is transforming to digitization at a faster rate, our youth is far more vulnerable to get entrapped in cyber crimes due to lack of awareness of cyber laws. Our children fall prey to cyber bullying, cyber stalking, identity theft, online abuse, online gaming threats and what not.

In cases where bullying is moderate and lasts for more than three months, the most commonly used means for it is the mobile phone.

Although cyber bullying is a short-lived problem for most adolescents, there is a relatively small, but significant percentage of teenagers who have been subjected to bullying of moderate (less than one attack per week) and severe intensity (more than one attack per week) over the course of more than three months, 4% between 3 and 6 months and 3% for more than a year.

In cases where bullying is moderate and lasts for more than three months, the most commonly used means for it is the mobile phone. This could be explained by the availability and vital importance that mobile phones have in life. Previous studies have shown that teenagers aged between 12 and 14 have had an average of three mobile phones, and 63% of them never switch them off, explains Buelga. In the current situation we need to take appropriate steps so that youth can be saved from becoming victim of cyber world.