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   Sreejith Raja 

Protecting Our Children: Make Cyberliteracy a Part of Daily Life

​I have spent over four decades of my life in India. I have seen India grow from nothing in information technology to the present status where the internet is becoming a part of daily life of the common man. I became cyberliterate on my own, the hard way though. My parents never had cyberliteracy, but their real life experiences hold good in the net life as well.

Right from childhood, my parents have always taught me by their golden words bequeathed from the generations who lived earlier, especially with regard to managing finance and friendships.

On the financial front, my mom always tells me that my grandfather used to say that if our income is $100 a month (though the currency is different, I have used the dollar as an example for the netizen), we could spend $99 and keep $1 for the next month. That was the way my grandfather started with just two pairs of clothes and managed to not only raise a family, but to also buy a farmhouse on his own that spread out over acres of land. All this with no mortgage to support. He brought it entirely out of his savings after a long struggle in his career and supporting his family at the same time. He also educated all his children up to graduation and married off his two daughters.

With regard to friendships, my parents always advised me to take time to start trusting people, but once I began to trust, I should keep it strong at all times, even during the times of turbulence.

These basic principles hold good even to our life on the internet. I have seen people falling prey to something that I would call "CYBERLOVE" and getting cheated. They get so addicted to net life that they drift away from reality. They do not take time to think before trusting people. I would not say life on the net is not a reality, but we need to be very cautious on the internet since we do not get a chance to meet the person face to face. If we, as individuals, keep this in mind during our interactions, then we could prevent fraudsters to create havoc in our lives.

I have also seen scammers on the internet trying to dupe netizens out of their money. My friend Kumar (name changed for security reasons) was an active person on social media. He used to receive many friend requests with ladies’ names, and he accepted some of them. Very soon they chatted, and the other person even started expressing her “love” for Kumar. Without suspicion, he, too, acknowledged that, only to realize later that she wanted money. Fortunately, he had the courage to share that information with me. It set me thinking and we managed to discover that the person at the other end was using a fake ID to lure Kumar into shelling out his money. With due legal intervention, we were able to save Kumar’s hard earned money.

There are millions of real incidents that have happened like this and currently happening across the globe even as you read this. We, as adults, can easily identify the fake from the real. However, our children may not be able to identify this as easily as we can. It is our responsibility to protect our children and future generations. We have to keep the communication channel with our children open and honest so that they can share their concerns with us. Let us keep that bonding between us and our children strong. Let us be their first and fast friends. That is a good way to handle these issues.                      Sreejith Raja

Meet P C Sreejith Shankar Raja

Sreejith Raja was born in Calicut (Kozhikode), a southern coastal city on the west coast of India. Mr. Raja holds degrees in Physics and Computer Applications from the National Institute of Technology in India. Currently, he is a Systems Analyst at United Electric, part of the United Commercial Agencies group in Bahrain and is responsible for stock and sales management software.

A thought leader, Sreejith Raja is VP - Public Relations, in the local Toastmasters Club, part of Toastmasters International and inspires those whom he mentors. He and wife enjoy leisure travel, music, and their extended family.