MUMBAI: As online classes become the norm, instances of hacking and cyber bullying are rising. What appeared to be a class X student from an Andheri school logged into a class IX online session and posted obscene messages. In another ICSE school in the city, an unidentified person logged into an e-class, shared his screen, and displayed inappropriate content. The school locked e-classrooms a few days after the incident.
A parent of a class IX student at an ICSE school said, "Now, teachers take attendance when a class begins and once they know all the students are in, no one else is allowed to join the session," adding, "My son is sent the link and password the previous night for each subject. However, unidentified persons were able to login too. They posted obscene videos and used foul language in the session. This continued for a few days."
Teachers, who are also new to the e-learning format, are grappling with challenges. Schools said they were learning safety protocols and getting better at disciplining the e-classrooms. A teacher from the Andheri school said, "A student made an obscene comment about another student. I tried to reach out to him on WhatsApp, but found out he was a Class X student, not IX. He said someone had created a user ID with his name. We thought he was lying and told him we would complain to the cyber police, but we later found that he was attending his own e-class at the same time. Such instances are common across classes."
Cyber experts said they had also received several complaints about bullying. "During lockdown, we received around 100 complaints of cyber bullying and sextortion. Most victims are in the 14-21 age group. Children need to be made aware that the internet is full of predators, and that they must be careful when accepting friend requests. They need to be careful about comments, posts, and language they use online, as it is all stored forever and can reflect poorly when applying to universities abroad. Nothing is private on the internet and nothing is permanently deleted," warned cyber security expert Ritesh Bhatia.
A parent of a class IX student at an ICSE school said, "Now, teachers take attendance when a class begins and once they know all the students are in, no one else is allowed to join the session," adding, "My son is sent the link and password the previous night for each subject. However, unidentified persons were able to login too. They posted obscene videos and used foul language in the session. This continued for a few days."
Teachers, who are also new to the e-learning format, are grappling with challenges. Schools said they were learning safety protocols and getting better at disciplining the e-classrooms. A teacher from the Andheri school said, "A student made an obscene comment about another student. I tried to reach out to him on WhatsApp, but found out he was a Class X student, not IX. He said someone had created a user ID with his name. We thought he was lying and told him we would complain to the cyber police, but we later found that he was attending his own e-class at the same time. Such instances are common across classes."
Cyber experts said they had also received several complaints about bullying. "During lockdown, we received around 100 complaints of cyber bullying and sextortion. Most victims are in the 14-21 age group. Children need to be made aware that the internet is full of predators, and that they must be careful when accepting friend requests. They need to be careful about comments, posts, and language they use online, as it is all stored forever and can reflect poorly when applying to universities abroad. Nothing is private on the internet and nothing is permanently deleted," warned cyber security expert Ritesh Bhatia.
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