Chennai: Despite parents and schools trying to stop tweens from using social media networking websites like Facebook, they continue using it in schools. According to McAfee‘s Tweens, a teens and technology report, 53 per cent of tweens in Chennai have accessed social media sites at school. A total of 45 per cent of tweens in Chennai have cyber-bullied others and 57 per cent were not aware what to do if they were bullied or harassed online.
The percentage of tweens using social networking websites in schools vary from 43 per cent in Bengaluru to 58 per cent in Mumbai, Delhi (56 per cent), Hyderabad (55 per cent) and Chennai (53 per cent).
Terming the trend alarming even more than terrorism, Dr R.Kishore Kumar, correspondent of St John’s Public School, said that unregulated use of social networking websites, especially with mobile phones in school, leads to several issues, including killing of child, as happened in a case when a kid was killed by a Facebook stranger when the kid met him. “We teach kids about the advantages and disadvantages of social networking websites to create awareness. With the advent of cheap cellphones students buy one with the pocket money their parents give them,” he said.
Pointing out that social networking websites could turn into potential danger for tweens, Dr N. Vijayan, correspondent of Zion matriculation schools, said that cellphones used by students in school are seized and handed over to parents with a warning.
Dr K.Vijayan, clinical psychologist at Institute of Mental Health, Kilpauk said, “Parents buy cellphones just because their kid insist and schools too don’t take the issue seriously. Some kids use cellphones at night, which is not good.” he said.
A student from a school in Anna Nagar said that he had seen his friend bringing cellphone to school but puts it on silent mode while entering the classroom.
