‘How to protect our children from distress in cyberspace?’ a key topic at Responsible Netism’s Second Edition of National CyberPsychology Conference’ with leading psychologists, academicians, Psychotherapist and tech gurus
Lighting the lamp L-R Prof. Dr. Uday Salunkhe, Group Director, WeSchool; Shri. Ashok Panvalkar, Chief Editor Maharashtra Times; Shri Deepak Ghaisas, Chairman, Gencoval Strategic Services and Mrs. Sonali Patankar – Founder-President, Responsible Netism.
The World Wide Web is a boon or a bane depends on the user. With an always-on internet connection, it has become imperative to review how one uses the internet especially children and youth, who are more prone to the blind spots in the virtual world. Keeping the current social media landscape in mind, WeSchool is happy to associate as knowledge partner with team Responsible Netism for hosting its second edition of National CyberPsychology Conference on 18 and 19 January 2018 at the S.P. Mandali’s Prin. L. N. Welingkar’s Institute of Management Development and Research (WeSchool), Mumbai. The conference aptly themed “Building Cyber Hygiene Culture” aims to inform the role of adults as “Digital Guardians” in order to protect children from distress in cyberspace.
Responsible Netism – an educational initiative by the Ahaan Foundation strives towards promoting cyber wellness within the state since 2012. The first day of the event was graced by luminaries from the cyber world such as Shri. Atul Chandra Kulkarni Ji – A.D.G. A.T.S. Maharashtra; Shri. Brijesh Singh – Spl. I. Cyber Maharashtra, D.G. I.P.R and Shri. Deepak Ghaisas, Chairman, Gencoval Strategic Services; Shri. Dinesh Bareja, Advisory Cyber Peace Foundation; Dr. Harish Shetty, Social Psychiatrist; Dr. Anuradha Sovani, Psychologist, H.o.D. of Psychology, SNDT Women’s University; Ms. Swati Mohapatra, Communications specialist UNICEF India and many more.
Prof. Dr Uday Salunkhe, Group Director, We School highlights the need to foster cyber-wellness among youth
Addressing at the inaugural, Prof. Dr. Uday Salunkhe expressed his perspective on the significance of reviewing our activities on the internet, saying, “The increasing internet connectivity is influencing our youth at a personal and social level. Educating the youth on using the internet responsibly is critical. Self-Others-Society (SOS) approach is the need of the hour. It has become important to define individual-level participation in the virtual world, review how we engage with others online and develop a consciousness about the impact of our actions in the world wide web. We also need to adopt best global cybersecurity practices that will help the youth embrace the internet as responsible netizens.”
The day one of the conference highlighted the emerging need for cyber wellness in order to formulate a strategy of intervention in building a cyber-hygiene culture and inculcating values on responsible online behaviour to combat online distress. Striking the right balance between internet enthusiasts and internet alarmists will enable us to care for technology-dependent children and families and encourage E-readiness through engagement practices. Panelists engaged the attending youth, parents and academicians on fostering cyber wellness, national security and cyberspace, understanding online trends – its impacts on children and youth, cyberspace- a game of minds, E-readiness and child online safety policy legal rights.
The two-day panel sessions have over 45 speakers coming from across the country to address topics ranging from online radicalization, digital diarrhoea, child online safety – legal rights, gamology, responsible journalism, crisis management and law enforcement to cyber Care Giver with the most distinguished speakers sharing their insights. Using a multi-disciplinary approach, the conference is expected to help Responsible Netism identify new areas of research and policy.
Responsible Netism and Ahaan Foundation have been working towards training young internet users and their parents in cyber awareness and safe and responsible internet use practices since 2012. They regularly conduct workshops and classes for school students and relevant adults. This conference aims to take the initiative further to build policies on child online protection. They have successfully sensitized over 8 lakh children in 800 educational institutions in the state.
