M. O. P. Vaishnav College for Women conducted WeBsafe
There are plenty of people online and they are falling prey to crimes that are also occurring online. Youngsters spend many hours in the cyber world, sometimes more than they do in the real world, which is frightening. Definitely, the current generation is technically more sound but unfortunately they do not know how to use it wisely, either due to lack of knowledge or simply because they are ignorant. And in this case ignorance is definitely not bliss. Many young people are victims of cyber bullying, stalking, etc. The greatest danger is that on this information highway there are plenty of potholes which the speeding surfers fall into.
With this in mind, the Media Management students of M. O. P. Vaishnav College for Women conducted a PR campaign called “WeBsafe ” on 26th and 27th September, 2016 to spread awareness on how to be safe online.
Aishwaryaa R. Dhanush, the UN Women’s Advocate for Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment, as well as an eminent Film Director inaugurated the “WeBsafe” campaign on 26th September, 2016. She said that “Cyber safety is something each one of us needs to be aware of. We are often under the impression that nothing harmful will happen to us, but that has been proved wrong many a time and it is better to be proactive and careful rather than sorry. In the age of Internet and 4G everything is a click away, and a seminar like this is very relevant in today’s times. Never think it would never happen to you, you are always watched over the Internet. Be safe, be secure and most importantly be smart”.
The first day of the campaign had various informative sessions. Mr. Rajendran, a well known Cyber law expert explained the various possible cyber crimes that could happen to anyone. He related various case studies and had an extremely interactive session with the students. Ms. Poongkhulali and Mr. Thomas T. Jacob, advocates who have dealt with these cases discussed the legal aspects of Cyber safety explaining various laws related to Cyber space.
Dr. Padma Chandrashekar, a practicing Psychologist and Counsellor from the Velammal Group of Institutions emphasized that people should connect to their real world to remain sane and logical. Accidents that happen online affect people in the real world. She said “insecurities and unfulfilled needs in the real world lead individuals to become cyber bullies and stalkers”. RJ Syed Mohsin from Fever FM conducted a fun session satirically talking about a student’s obsession with social media. Cyber techie expert Aashish Vivekanand explained how easy hacking was and how much on our guard we need to be online.
The second day of the campaign started with a Poster making competition and Adzap on “Cyber safety in Social media”. Creative writing, face painting, dance and debate competitions were also conducted. The debate saw participants discussing the deep and darker aspects of Cyber crimes. The judges for the various events were RJ Bharath from Radio city, Ms. Nisha and Ms. Panisa Sha from Social beat, RJ Sha from Radio Mirchi, Master Balaji from Spin Dance Studio, Sundar from Vijay TV Kings of dance fame and Sruthakeerthi Ram Mohan, the founder of Tea Zeal.
The department hopes that the campaign and the message of WeBsafe spread far and wide.