Onus on parents

The internet offers enormous benefits for users, but it also has bad sides. And children are alarmingly being exposed to it in a way that is threatening not only for their future but also the state.

Educationists, development activists, and civil society members yesterday called for proper monitoring of the contents viewed by the youth and for counselling students at home and at school.

They also stressed the need for launching social campaigns to raise awareness about what to view and what not to on the web.

Their observations came at a seminar on safe internet for children at The Daily Star Centre in Dhaka yesterday. Grameenphone, the country's largest mobile carrier, the most read Bangla daily Prothom Alo, and the most read English daily The Daily Star jointly organised the programme.

“It is very unfortunate that we have to talk about safe internet. We want internet, but we see that a generation is moving towards a sort of addiction which we do not want," said Rasheda K Choudhury, executive director of the Campaign for Popular Education.

She said ICT was taught at schools but there were not enough ICT teachers.

The former caretaker government adviser said 40 percent of those in secondary education are first generation learners. Their parents are not literate, let alone tech savvy. "It is not easy to reach their parents and teach them how to monitor what their children are doing on the internet. Here, NGOs can come forward and spread awareness among parents."

There were 54 million internet users in the country, according to the latest data, said Grameenphone Corporate Responsibility Officer Debashis Roy during a presentation.

Of them, 80 percent were between the age 17 and 34, he said.

He said another study shows that 100 million children would have internet access in 2017 and 90 percent of them would use the internet via smartphones. "Here comes the responsibility of protecting the children."

"Studies show that half of the children do not share their internet activities with their parents. They do not get support from school. When they face any problems, they turn to their friends for solutions," said Debashis.

Laila Karim, manager for advocacy and communication of the Save the Children, chastised parents for not giving quality time to their children and for not taking the time to monitor what they do on the internet. “Parents who are very busy with their careers try to compensate by giving their children smartphones and internet connections.”

She said the latest Child Act, 2013, and the latest Education Policy does not have a single word on safe internet even though the internet was very much in use when they were formulated. “It is very unfortunate.”

Tarana Halim, state minister for posts and telecommunications, said shutting down the internet was not a solution. "However, we can see the damages if contents are not filtered."

She urged mobile phone carriers to counsel their subscribers through dedicated numbers or apps, like they have done for health and education.

“It would have been better if there were a counsellor at every school in the country,” she said.

Tarana said she would write to Facebook authorities today for signing an agreement with Bangladesh to ensure safe internet.

She said her ministry has started the process of importing internet safety solutions to ensure objectionable content were filtered, in an effort to enhance the safety of the people, especially women.

She said the society and families have not prepared their children to speak out. She said the people who were bullying and harassing women and girls should not be spared.

Yasmin Habib, vice-president of Sunnydale School, said, "We have first-hand experience. Parents or schools do not teach bad things to their children. They learn bad things from the internet and share those with friends."

“These students have lost their compassion ... They are becoming machines ...”

She said there should be a law banning students from opening Facebook accounts until they become 18. "… Otherwise, it will not work," she said.

The teacher said schools could not ignore their responsibility as students spend six to eight hours a day in schools.

Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star, said the internet is essential. "We have to accept it. It is part of their [the children's] progress. They can go forward a lot using the internet."

“Internet is freedom and freedom of thought and choice also. The innovations and creativity we see around the world are largely internet based.”

He said awareness was the most effective answer and that prevention would not work.

While moderating the discussion, Salehuddin Ahmed, a former pro-vice chancellor of Brac University, said the good sides of the internet far outdo the bad. “The bad sides are very dangerous. So, we have to ensure that our children are safe from the bad influences of the internet.”

He said mobile carriers also have the responsibility and they should look into ways to include counselling in their system.

Jamila Akhter, child protection specialist of the Unicef, said parents, who themselves were not tech-savvy, do not know how to protect their children from the bad influences of the internet. 

Shahamin S Zaman, chief executive officer of CSR Centre, said Bangladesh would have to ensure access to information, if the government wanted to transform it to Digital Bangladesh. "There is no way to stop the internet. But we can step up monitoring to ensure safe internet."

Mahmud Hossain, chief corporate affairs officer of Grameenphone, said Grameenphone launched an initiative to filter child pornography contents three years ago. "We can expand it. But the government or the mobile carriers alone cannot do it. All stakeholders in the society have to come forward."

Anisul Hoque, associate editor of Prothom Alo, said safe internet is not important only for children, but also for the security of the state.

Asif Saleh, senior director of Brac, asked how rural schools could be empowered to fight the abuses over the internet when renowned schools of the capital were struggling to ensure safe internet?

Ejaj Ahmad, founder of Bangladesh Youth Leadership Centre, called for upholding values of the country in order to ensure safety of the children. 

Ruhul Amin, a student of Govt Azizul Huq College in Bogra, and Zannatul Ferdous of Dhaka University, said the students were living in a world unimaginable without the internet.

Another student from Dhaka University said he used to tutor a ninth-grader. The student used to use Facebook clandestinely as the child's parents had banned him from it. “He used Facebook via mobile phones of friends and relatives.”