SINGAPORE: A new phenomenon called "cyberbaiting", where kids taunt their teachers, film the incident and post it online to embarrass the teacher or the school, has been identified.
Three in 10 Singapore teachers have personally experienced this or know of another teacher who has, said the latest Norton Online Family Report.
Norton said this
could be why 60 per cent of teachers in Singapore say being friends with
students on social networks exposes them to risks.
Still, 75 per cent of them continue to "friend" their students.
Sixty-eight
per cent of them said their school has a code of conduct on how
teachers and students should communicate with each other through social
media.
Ninety-three per cent of teachers wanted more online safety education in schools, a position supported by most parents.
In
Singapore, 71 per cent of kids said they have had a negative experience
online with nearly half saying they had a serious negative encounter,
such as receiving inappropriate pictures from strangers, being bullied
or becoming the victim of cybercrime.
Another cause for concern
is the high number of kids secretly using their parents' credit cards to
shop online for music, video games and even event tickets. Twenty-three
per cent of kids globally admit to doing without their parents'
knowledge.
Nearly half of the parents surveyed reported that their child has used their credit or debit card without permission.
Most parents in Singapore have rules on how their kids should use the Internet.
Kids who follow the rules are also less likely to have a negative online experience.
The
Norton Online Family Report conducted almost 20,000 online surveys in
24 countries including Singapore from February to March this year.
Respondents included about 4,500 children aged between eight and 17.
- CNA/fa