When frenzy of virtual world takes a toll on their real lives

Posting negative comments and humiliating others on social networking sites is the common form of cyber bullying. Experts say the fact that everybody else can also see the insult inflicted on one person accentuates the hurt felt by the victim.

“A year ago a high school girl student was being bullied and stalked. A complaint was registered with the school. We approached the parents and took action against the miscreants,” said Nandini Charles,principal,Vikhe-Patil Memorial School. Nandini said at the start of each academic year,the school conducts an orientation session on issues related to the cyber world for students and their parents. “The students are not allowed to use mobile phones but they sneak in cell phones or use social networking sites,” she said.

Arpita Karkare,director,Millennium National School,said,“We had 2-3 cases in the past. The child normally doesn’t tell us about any incident of bullying or stalking. It is mostly the victim’s friend or parents who approach us. We guide the parents on how to deal with such cases. Instead of reacting,parents need to be counselled first. Parents have been advised to put up password trackers in the computers. They have been asked to monitor their child’s internet usage.”

She said students add anybody as their friends on social networking sites. “Also every mobile now has internet and parents allow kids to take mobile phones to school,” she said. Arpita said the school puts students through regular tests. “The moment a student performance fluctuates,we know there is a problem. Sports teachers are also quick to see a change in the performance of a child,” she said.

The situation in colleges are no different. Most of them are related to ex-boyfriends getting back at their girlfriends. “One of our seniors was in a relationship with a boy from our college. They were all in a moot group on one of the mail groups on internet. Since it is a law college,almost everybody is on the moot group,including teachers. The couple broke up and the boy posted some intimate pictures of the girl on the group. The teachers then asked the boy to apologise. But no legal action was taken,” said the student ofa reputed law college.

Cyber stalking affects girls more than boys. “There was a guy whom my friend had added as a friend on a social networking site. He started stalking her. He got her number and started calling her. When she told me,I told him to back off and it finally stopped,” said Anant Tripathi,a student from a deemed university.

Copying photographs,making fake profiles and then posting obscene messages are also another way the miscreants act. “Anybody can copy your photograph from internet. My friend’s sister was a victim of a fake profile. Obscene things were posted. Then her brother intervened and found out the guy. He was from her own college and nobody ever suspected. He was asked to take down the page,” said an engineering student.