The Malappuram district police in collaboration with Kerala police cyber dome on Saturday launched a state-wide initiative, Kids Glove, to create awareness among teachers, parents and children about cyber crimes and drug abuse.
The programme was launched on Saturday in Malappuram by Uma Behera IPS, Vigilance SP, Kozhikode. The police officials said that the programme is designed to educate teachers, parents and children about cyber security. The techniques have been crafted by the Cyberdome and the technological research team.
The programme will also see its launch in other districts soon.
Speaking to TNM, Jaleel Thottathil, DySP, Malappuram talks of the importance and relevance of Kids Glove.
“We face a lot of crimes and complaints in the cyber space and children are always the soft target for cyber crime. So this programme is primarily to make them aware of the magnitude of threats that they are exposed to and teach them how to combat the same," said Jaleel.
“The perpetrators usually get in touch with the children over WhatsApp or other social media platfroms and misuse their friendship to commit cyber crimes. We have many such cases were OTPs have been hacked etc. Therefore we have to equip the younger generation to use cyber space effectively and at the same time remain safe," he added.
The initiative will attempt to teach children how to tackle the threats of cyberspace and will include workshops, seminars, symposiums and conferences.
“The programme will mainly focus on plus two students, teachers and parents. We will also arrange live demonstrations in which the students are expected to participate. This practical approach will help the children understand the hidden threats in the cyber world," Shylesh, civil police officer, Malappuram, told TNM.
“Apart from live demonstrations we have arranged for seminars which will also feature sessions from Childline psychologists. Children are easy targets for cyber space crime and therefore it is necessary for the system to protect them," added Shylesh.
Meanwhile, district police head Debesh Kumar Behra hailed the initiative and pointed out that drug related cases are also on the rise and need to be cleverly tackled.
“There are plenty of cases where youth in the district have fallen into the traps of cyberspace. Meanwhile, drug related cases are on the rise among the same demographic. The Kids Glove programme aims to make students aware at an early age about the deadly effects of these problems and make them capable of strongly resisting such lures,” he said.