AS CYBER-BULLYING AND ONLINE FEUDS spreads in urban schools, teachers and principals are stepping in to mediate. On the agenda in the new academic year: Discussion groups, ethics workshops and field trips to the cybercrime cell
On Facebook, you have to be 13 or older to sign up, but you can just lie. My whole class is on Facebook and Orkut. You can be 17, 18 or even 40 if you want.
Radhika Raj
Ritika Mehta (12, name changed) was playing games on her PC by age 4, before she could even spell the word 'computer'.
By age 10, she had accounts on four social networking sites, including Facebook and Orkut, complete with more than 300 friends and her own online photo albums.
Then, a month before her 12th birthday, Mehta was shocked to find a fake Facebook profile created in her name, with picture of her and a status message that read 'I lik boyz, boyz like me, don't you want to f*** with me'.
Her virtual doppelganger had sent out invites to many of her classmates.
"I started getting calls from friends. Somebody informed my parents. I never wanted to return to school," she says.
While her shocked parents immediately banned her from touching the computer, her school came to her rescue.
Mehta's case was not reported in the media. Nor were three other cases of cyber-harassment and cyber-bullying in schools that HT stumbled upon, all of which occurred earlier this year.
But, as schools begin a new academic year, their response - a growing number of discussion groups, ethics workshops and even field trips to local cybercrime cells - is an indication of how social networking is turning nasty and how schools stepping in to mediate.
In Mehta's case too, the administration could have suppressed the issue, or used the case to crack down on underage Facebook users (preteens are not allowed on the site, according to Facebook rules, but many lie about their age and sign up).
Instead, they encouraged Mehta to have a conversation with her parents in the presence of a schoolteacher.
One study period was dedicated to Facebook in the higher classes, where, students were encouraged to talk about their profiles openly. A cyber law expert was also invited to the school, to chat about the legal and ethical implications of cyber-bullying.
Though the culprit was never caught, Mehta felt more comfortable about going to school and soon realised she wasn't the only victim.
"We have to accept that these children will log on to social networking sites and we can do nothing about that," says Anvita Bir, principal of R.N. Podar School, Santacruz. "Prohibiting them from signing up will not help. In fact, it might backfire. The only alternative is to sensitise them about the dangers."
Podar school conducts regular interactive sessions where children discuss cyber-bullying and the ethical issues and dangers inherent in social networking sites. At special parent-teacher meetings, parents are instructed on how to handle situations involving cyber harassment.
"After the Patrawala case, we decided to face the problem head-on," says Bir, referring to the 2007 case where a 16-year-old was abducted and then murdered by three teenagers - one of them a girl - whom he had befriended on Orkut.
In the wake of the murder, students also put together a short documentary on the dangers of social networking. Featuring a fictionalised dramatisation of the Patrawala murder, which served as a cautionary tale, it was screened for the entire school.
"Since there are no anti-bullying policy guidelines in the Information Technology or Juvenile Justice Acts in India, workshops like these are of great help in the prevention of Cyber-bullying," says K. Jaishankar, senior assistant professor in criminology at MS Unviersity, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu. "A softer approach of workshops and counselling is also important to minimise the impact of victimisation and prevent the victim from becoming an offender."
In an age where youngsters are getting intimate at the age of 13 or 14, adds psychiatrist Harish Shetty, cyber-bullying also has more serious implications.
"Most youngsters have access to a camera phone and take relationship goes sour, posting vicious comments on each others' 'Walls' easily turns into an ugly game of blackmail or revenge," he says.
Suddenly, what would have once been scandalous scrawls behind toilet doors are going viral across cities.
And it's not just students who are the targets. Anonymous 'I Hate My Class Teacher' groups are also becoming more common in Indian metros.
That's why, at Billabong High International School, Santacruz, the battle against cyber-bullying has become part of school policy.
At the beginning of each year, parents sigh an undertaking agreeing that any use of the Internet or social networking to express opinions against the school, its employees or fellow students will be dealt with in accordance with cybercrime laws.
Billabong has also expanded the brief of its Special Needs Cell to offer brief of its Special Needs Cell to offer redressel and counselling to victims of cyber-buylling, And the school orientation has a special slot devoted to speaking to parents about the consequences of cyberbullying.
"In our day and age, when both parents are at work all day, children are left alone and turn to the Internet to express their feelings," says Kusum Kanwar, head of school operations. "We try and ask the parents to spend more time with their children."
The school also regularly invites police representatives to visit and talk to the students about cyber laws.
NES International School, Mulund, meanwhile, takes senior students on 'field trips' to Mumbai's cybercrime cell, where the children discuss specific cases and ideal ways to use social networking sites.
So far conducted only for students of Class 7 and above, the school is now planning to take Class students to the cybercrime cell headquarters for a basic workshop and Orkut safely and responsibly.
"We are moving towards an age of Internet learning. Most children don't mean any harm. It's often just simple fights that take an ugly turn," says V. Balasubbramanian, director of the NES group of institutions. " As cliched as it may sound ,we tell them what Spidey great responsibility."
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