The development of the internet has been one of the greatest technological advancements of the 20th century. The way the world conducts business and shares information has been completely revolutionised by the introduction of the World Wide Web.

As wonderful as the internet is, it also has a dark side – it has opened an easier channel for criminals to prey on vulnerable children.

Predators can now enter your home through this backdoor to befriend your children, lure them out of their safe surroundings and traffic them, abuse them or use them for online child pornography.

The dangers do not end with just online sexual predators because there are also online games and challenges such as Blue Whale that are either causing children to take their own lives or perform dangerous stunts.

Then there is cyberbullying, a problem that is getting bigger by the day with no solution in sight.

Sexual grooming

Mariza Abdulkadir is the executive director of Protect and Save the Children – a non-profit organisation in Malaysia that focuses on prevention and intervention of child sexual abuse and exploitation.

According to her the most prevalent cybercrime committed against children in Malaysia is grooming, where a predator befriends a child online to sexually abuse them.

“While child grooming for the purpose of sexual abuse is nothing new since earlier the predators would reach children by befriending the parents or relatives, but now they have direct access through the internet,” says Mariza.

Online grooming eventually leads to meeting and taking it further. Mariza adds, “Teenagers are most vulnerable to falling prey to these online sexual predators although the vast internet accessibility means younger children are at risk too.”

There are laws in place to protect children in Malaysia from such atrocities, but the lack of knowledge and awareness among parents mean that justice remains elusive to most victims of such crimes.

Dangerous games and challenges

Apart from online grooming another online danger is games and challenges like Blue Whale that pushes children to take their own lives.

Although thankfully it is not much prevalent in Malaysia, these games have claimed quite a few lives worldwide.

Commenting about keeping children safe from such games, Mariza says, “The main targets of online dangers that push children to commit crimes are kids who are vulnerable, meaning those who have trouble opening up about the problems they are facing, do not have a close relationship with their parents, are loners and do not know how to talk about things or who to talk to. These children are the easiest targets.”

Cyberbullying

The term online trolling and bullying has become synonymous with social media so much so that many people take it as normal. However, it is far from it and can have far-reaching effects, especially on children.

What is more disturbing is that children are not just the victims, they are also participating in it.

So, what can adults do about it?

The solution

According to a study conducted by the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission in 2015 on internet usage by children between the ages of 10 to 17, only 35.6% of parents supervise their children’s online activities.

“There is a lack of understanding among many parents about the threats posed by the internet which leads to this lack of supervision,” explains Mariza.

“Another problem is the communication gap between parents and their children.

“One in 14 children will ever let an adult in on what is happening in their life and hence parents often have no idea about the predators they are interacting with or the games they are playing or how they are behaving online.”

To keep children safe, adults need to create a space where their children can freely talk to them about the issues they’re facing.

“Parents must have an open communicative relationship with their children. Schools must bear the responsibility too, since it is the place where children spend most of their time in,” Mariza emphasises.

International schools use technology extensively, but they also have high-end firewalls in place to defend against potential dangers, which is not the case at homes.

International schools also hold regular classes that teach children about digital citizenship, how to behave online and how to combat online bullying.

While most international schools have experienced and professional counsellors to help students deal with such problems, it is not humanly possible to give 100% attention to each student in school.

Parents have to be equally involved and work together with schools to ensure their children’s safety.

The fact remains that there is no point in being paranoid about the internet and exercising excessive control over children since it is indeed a necessary evil in everyone’s lives now.

But awareness about the potential dangers of the internet, and the need to be vigilant at all times, is necessary.

SchoolAdvisor.my provides information on private and international schools, extra-curricular activities as well as other education-related topics in Malaysia.