ZCZC
BSS-22
UNICEF-HARASSMENT-CHILDREN
32pc children victims of cyber bullying in Bangladesh
DHAKA, Feb 5, 2019 (BSS) – The UNICEF today stated that 32 per cent
children aged 10 to 17 years are becoming victims of cyber bullying and
digital harassment in Bangladesh.
Issuing warning of the dangers posed by online violence, cyber bullying
and digital harassment, the organisation called for concerted action to
tackle and prevent violence against children, said a press release.
The call, made on Safer Internet Day, comes following a recent UNICEF poll
of young people, which received more than 1 million responses over five weeks
from more than 160 countries, and suggestions from a series of student-led
‘#ENDviolence Youth Talks’ held around the world.
A recent study titled, ‘Online Safety of Children in Bangladesh’,
commissioned by UNICEF Bangladesh, surveyed a total of 1,281 school-going
children (aged 10 to 17) from school, college, Madrasah steams of education
in Bangladesh who use internet.
The study also revealed that some 10 per cent of the children reported
facing religiously provocative content in online.
Children (aged 16 to 17) are exposed to such provocative content more than
other groups of children.
“We’ve heard from children and young people from Bangladesh and around the
world and what they are saying is clear that the Internet has become a
kindness desert,” said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF Representative in
Bangladesh.
“That’s why this Safer Internet Day, UNICEF is following young people’s
lead and inviting everyone to be kind online, and calling for greater action
to make the Internet a safer place for everyone, especially children,” he
said.
According to the UNICEF Bangladesh study, about 25 per cent of the children
(aged 10-17) started to access the digital world below the age of 11.
Besides, a large majority (63 percent) of the children use their own room as
the primary internet usage point. This indicates the prevalence of “bedroom
culture” which allows less supervised internet use.
“Thirty years after the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child and the creation of the World Wide Web, it is time for governments,
families, academia and, critically, the private sector to put children and
young people at the centre of digital policies,” Beigbeder added.
BSS/PR/DH/RY/1735 hrs