Be careful the next time you log onto your Orkut profile, your mother could be watching your every move, literally.
Mothers, as well as grandmothers, are learning to surf the web to keep tabs on their kids’ online activities
MUMBAI: Be careful the next time you log onto your Orkut profile, your mother could be watching your every move, literally. With increasing number of teens falling prey to the dangers lurking in the virtual world, several mothers have started to keep tabs on their children through their online activities.
Usha Khilosia, 43, enrolled for the Internet learning course at Vidyanidhi Info Tech Academy, Juhu, to help her 12-year-old daughter in her school homework and also to keep a check on her online activities. “Most of my daughter’s homework needs online research. With so much happening on the Internet, I feel compelled to keep track of what she does online,” she said.
“I have also made an Orkut profile and I even enjoy scrapping as much as my daughter. It also helps me keep track of her activities.”
Forty-nine-year-old Hemal Shah, grandmother of two children, plays videogames with them after learning to surf the Internet. “My three year old grandson is amazed that I play games with him. But my 24-year-old son deleted his Facebook profile after I become a member. It is better that my children know that I am watching,” she said.
Even a young mother such as Anmol Madhrani is gearing up by learning all the online tricks. With a six-year-old child, Madhrani feels that it is better not to turn a blind eye to new technology. “Online search tools are so powerful that you can read about any topic under the sun. But it also has several disadvantages. What if my child is exposed to some harmful content and I remain unaware of it? It’s better to be prepared and monitor what your kids are doing when they sit in front of the computer for hours,” she explained.
Savita Thakur, director, Vidyanidhi Info Tech Academy, claimed that the recent cases of youngsters getting involved in illegal activities and other horror stories have made parents keener to keep themselves updated with new technology. “After reading reports in the media of students getting influenced by online contents, mothers feel that keeping an eye on their children is important. Most of them have made profiles on Orkut and Facebook to check on their kid.”
And while their parent’s get techno-savvy, children are understandably disturbed with this growing trend. “We don’t need our parents to act as spies and check our personal accounts. This is invasion of our privacy. But I know several ways to delete my online footprints,” said Abhishek Kendre, a class XII student of Lilavati Podar School, Santa Cruz.
r_priya@dnaindia.net
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