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Project BIKOS - Better Internet for Kids Online Safety

A Pilot Project involving 30 schools , initiated by Cochin Refineries School Project Tagline : Refine Your Click , Define Your Safety Project Timeline : 7 months Objective : To prepare a Cyber Safety Policy for schools for implementation from academic session 2018-19 INTRODUCTION

Large-scale adoption of smart phones, cutting edge technology, cheap data rates have led to

cyber threats like online fraud , E-mail accounts being hacked , cyber stalking , cyber

phishing , sexting , screen addiction , digital drugs etc ,is the concern of every parent and

educator .

Keeping this in mind Cochin Refineries School has initiated BIKOS - Better Internet for Kids

Online Safety aimed at modeling a Cyber Safety Policy for schools

The whole project is divided into 6 events from P1 to P6. Trailing message is an update of

the activities done so far .

Number of member schools : 30

P1 (Brainstorming Session for Principals ).

Venue & Date : Cochin Refineries School , 21st October 2017 .

Principals of 15 leading schools actively participated in the Brainstorming session on

Digital Surveillance- listing out the challenges and drawing out strategies to protect

the children from the lurking dangers cyber space .Mrs Mala B Menon, Principal of

Cochin Refineries School welcomed the gathering. Felicitation was offered by Shri.

Pramod Kumar T K, Joint Director , CBSE, Centre of Excellence , Kochi. Mrs Premlata

Shaji was the facilitator for the Brainstorming session .Mr Manoj Kumar, Cyber

Forensic Expert Kochi Cyber Cell Kerala Police was the moderator for the session .

Mrs Kanchana Chandran the School Counselor proposed the Vote of thanks. The

output of this session was provided as input for the next event P2 .

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Brainstorming session in progress

Principals who participated in the Brain storming session along with CBSE Joint

Director , COE and Mr Manoj Kumar , Kochi Cyber Cell

P2 ( Group Discussion for School Counselors)

Venue & Date : Global Public School , 17th November 2017 .

30 participants from 25 schools participated in an hour long Group Discussion

.“Cyber Bullying - How School Counselors can intervene ? “ . Ms Indu Panicker ,

Principal , Global Public School welcomed the gathering , Mrs. Mala Menon Principal

Cochin Refineries School presented an overview of the six projects outlined under

project BIKOS . Mrs. Premlata Shaji , Project Coordinator BIKOS gave an update of

the previous programme ( P1 - Brainstorming Session for Principals )

and an insight into P3 i.e. Formation of Cyber Club in School . The Chief Guest , Dr.

Karthikeyan Gokul Chandran , IPS , ASP Narcotics Cell , Kerala Police addressed the

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gathering . Mrs. Kanchana Chandran , School Counselor CRS initiated the Group

discussion . The participants were divided into 3 groups who deliberated on various

issues associated with Cyber Bullying within school campus and also discussed the

points that came as output of Brainstorming session for Principals .

Each group presented their views and it was finally moderated by Senior officers of

Kerala Police Kochi Cyber Cell - Mr. Manoj Kumar , Mr.Binoy Joseph and Mr.Jaiji

Mathew . Moderators report was presented by Mr.Binoy Joseph , Kochi Cyber Cell .

(Attached as Annexure) .This was followed by an hour longsession on “ Cyber

Bullying - its Pshycological effects “ , by Dr. Chalam Das , Consultant Psychiatrist ,

Sunrise Hospital . Mrs. Susanna Sunil , Vice Principal , Global Public School proposed

the vote of thanks . The session was a fruitful one and was first of its kind for School

Counselors .

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Address by Dr. Karthikeyan Gokul Chandran , IPS

Officers from Kochi Cyber Cell who moderated the session

Group Discussion in action

Session on “ Cyber Bullying - its Psychological effects “ , by Dr. Chalam Das ,

Consultant Psychiatrist , Sunrise Hospital

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P3 ( Formation of Clubs )

Member schools were required to form Cyber Clubs in their school with a

committee comprising of :

1) School Principal

2) An IT Faculty

3) School Counselor

4) School Council Advisors (Teacher member/s)

5) Student Council Student Members (Head Boy , Head Girl , Asst Head Boy

&Asst Head Girl )

6) A Parent member

Main Objectives of Cyber Club

o To instill computing ethics among the students at large and increase

awareness of online & offline cyber threats.

o To conduct awareness sessions on Sex education

o To identify students with negative tendencies and divert them to physical

sports based activities , Creative hands-on arts and crafts projects etc

o To strengthen Cyber Counseling in schools with assistance of Cyber experts

o To create a Repository of Cyber Support personalities , institutions , NGOs

etc

o To promote computational thinking amongst students , which will improve

their STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering , Art and Math ) outlook

Suggested Cyber Club Activities :

o Organize & participate in computer-based competitions.

o Organize separate workshops for students and adults (Parents , teaching

&non teaching staff , other external bodies/ agencies attached to school

functioning )

o Cyber Club stall for the School Annual Exhibition ,Digital park to promote

cyber security through games .Cyberdome , Trivandrum has come up with a

number of digital games with attractive titles to promote safe and healthy

internet practice among children. Eg. Digital Forest :An

interactive game platform for kids for getting awareness about

cyberspace,jointly developed by Kerala Police Cyberdome

o De-tox week for the family

o Promote constructive IT based activities - Film Making , Lego Animation, 3D

Modeling , Robotics etc .

Venue & Date : Chinmaya Vidyalaya ,Tripunithura, 19th December 2017 .

An Interactive session of Cyber club members titled ‘Shoot a Question’ ,

focused on topics like Child Online Safety, Cyber bullying , Cyber Laws etc . Shri.

Pramod Kumar T.K , Joint Director CBSE - COE , Mr. Manoj Kumar , Cyber

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Forensic Expert from Kochi Cyber Cell , Adv. Prem Kamath, Cyber Crime Lawyer

and Mrs. Sujatha Madhav , Strategic Head TCS were the moderators for the

session . An exhibition of books related to cyber security , security gadgets was

also held . Senior Principal Dr. Mrs.Leela Ramamurthy convened the programme.

Mrs. Mala B Menon, Principal , Cochin Refineries School gave an over view of the

Project BIKOS . Mrs. Premlata Shaji , Project coordinator briefed on the objective

and activities of Cyber Club. A presentation on “Child online safety” was done by

Swaraksha an NGO working for the rights and protection of Children from social

evils . More than 60 participants from 25 schools participated in this highly

informative programme .

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Session by Swaraksha on Child online safety

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The Project Framework

Event Code

Proj Title Team Support

P1 Brainstorming session for Principals . Aim - To consolidate the challenges faced by Institutional Heads & arrive at possible solutions

15 CBSE School Principals , Topic : “ Digital surveillance – Challenges & Strategies in schools !!!! “

Kochi Cyber Cell , Kerala Police Completed on 21/10/17 at Cochin Refineries School

P2 Group Discussion for School Counselors : Cyber Bullying: How counselors can intervene ? Aim : To sensitize School Counselors on Cyber Security

25 School Counselors Kochi Cyber Cell , Kerala Police ,Psychologist from Sunrise Hospital Completed on 17/11/17 at Global Public School

P3 Form Cyber Clubs @ School Aim : Identify students involved in Cyber issues and direct them to School authorities.

School Principal, IT Faculty , School Counselor , School Council Advisors (Teacher member) &Student Members , Parent member

Swaraksha4kids , Kochi Cyber Cell , Cyber Crime Lawyer , IT Expert Completed on 19/12/17 at ChinmayaVidyalaya , Tripunithura

P4 Draft School Cyber Policy Aim : Mandatory as per CBSE requirement

School admin , IT Head Cyber Forensic lawyers , Kochi Cyber Cell , Kerala Police

P5 Awareness sessions - For Students , Teachers & Parents Aim :Sensitize / Educate stakeholders of this concern .

Students , Teachers & Parents

Kochi Cyber Cell Kerala Police, NGOs Ongoing activity in all schools

P6 Cyber Security Certification Programs for school students Aim : Formal training on technicalities in Cyber Modalities

Open for all school Students classes 8 - 12

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Project Matrix

Month 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr Notes

'17 '17 '17 '18 '18 '18 '18

Phase One

P1 P1- Brainstorming session for Principals

P2 P2-Group Discussion for School Counselors : Cyber Bullying: How counselors can intervene ?

P3 P3- Form Cyber Clubs @ School comprising of School Council Members & student volunteers

P4 P4- Draft School Cyber Policy by Cyber Law Team of BIKOS

P5 P5- Awareness sessions - For students at individual schools using Cyber Trainer Repository

P6 P6- Cyber Security Certification Programs for school students

Phase Two

P1 P1- Identification of additional Schools to the Pilot group -

P2 P2 - Create a Whatsapp group of Principals, IT Faculty , School Counselor , Kochi Cyber Cell

P3 P3- Meeting1 of Cyber Clubs from Pilot Schools

P4 P4- Principal's meet - Review of School Cyber Policy

P5 P5- Awareness sessions - For Parents & Teachers using Cyber Trainer Repository

Phase Three

P3 P3- "Cyber Swachhta Kendra" GOI mission - Interschool workshop for students

P4 P4 -Finalization of School Cyber Policy

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Annexure :

Consolidation of points in Group Discussion at Global Public School on 17.11.2017 by

Kochi Cyber Cell

The programmes/awareness classes have to be imparted to Teachers, Parents, Counsellors,

Students, Non Teaching Staffs

Promotional Measures

Separate sessions/classes for educating and empowering each groups

Have technical sessions for the group in each of the social media platforms.

Explore together what the social networks community guidelines are. Take a look at

the social network guidelines

Create an environment where they feel safe to talk to you, or a trusted adult, about

what they are going through. Check in with them regularly and ask open questions.

Start conversations when you have sufficient time to talk at length. Open up and

share about your own online experiences.

Be involved in their digital life on a regular basis. Be aware of signs of cyber

bullying and keep an eye on their behaviour.

Try to stay calm and don’t get upset or angry about what they are saying; resist the

temptation to remove devices as this might make them feel even more isolated

Preventive Measures

To Identify the children having problems and categorize them accordingly and have a

checklist of them . This can be imparted though the Cyber Clubs.

Encourage your child to be open and tell you, or another adult they trust, if they see

or experience cyber bullying.

Tell them not to retaliate in any way that is angry, offensive or threatening, likewise

as an adult stay calm and listen without judging.

Experiencing or witnessing all forms of bullying can make children feel very sad,

afraid and alone. Give faith and reassure your child that together you will sort it out.

Make your child aware that there may be content that upsets them that doesn’t

necessarily violate the sites’ community guidelines. In this case, advise them to

mute, unfollow or block the person who posted it.

Encourage your child to be kind to others and think about the impact of words and

actions.

Discuss situations when your child can stand up for himself/herself or others - and be

an ‘upstander’ rather than a ‘bystander’.

Intervention Strategy

How to deal with the victims and accused as well.

Train the above group on how to deal with the victims and accused

Online bullying can be complex, involving a number of people so it’s best to gently

explore together what might have happened to have resulted in the upsetting

messages or posts.

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Collect any evidence and together assess how serious the cyberbullying is. You can

take screenshots to capture the evidence. You can seek the help of Cyber Cell for

dealing with the same

Help them feel empowered and supported. In the first instance, it may be more

appropriate for them to try and deal with the situation themselves.

In case of the accused, help them understand the impact of their actions and ask

questions to understand why they are behaving in such a way. Reinforce that this

kind of behaviour will inevitably have consequences and will be punished under the

existing cyber laws.

Don't delete their social media accounts or take away their device, as this could

isolate them even further, and may make them reluctant to tell you things in future.

Rehabilitation

Need to formulate plans on how to rehabilitate the victim and accused as well.

Rule formation

Create a Cyber Policy for school without hurting the relationships.

Role of Parents

All the Groups underlined the importance of Parents in shaping the digital life of the

children. It is the primary responsibility of the parent to take care of the child in the physical

world and cyber world as well. Hence we need to organize parents awareness and

empowerment programmes for educating them for on how to secure their child in cyber

space.

Need for Sex Education

It is important to have sex education from high school level. To teach them how does porn

affect our brains development. The addiction to porn affects the brain in the same way the

drugs affect our brain. Special sessions should be arranged for the same.

Importance of Outdoor Activities

All digital and no physical activity will affect the overall development of a child. Hence it

is important that each child should be engaged in any sort of outdoor physical sports

activities. It also helps to channelize their energy to sports and other physical activities.

Project Coordinator – Premlata Shaji ,Cochin Refineries School , 9847191414