Mangaluru: As part of the Crime Prevention Month, an inter-collegiate paper presentation on “Youth in Prevention of Cyber Crime” was organised by the Department of Criminology and Forensic Science, Roshni Nilaya School of Social Work in collaboration with Mangaluru South Police Station, at the Seminar Hall of the college premises, Valencia here on 8 December.
The programme began with a prayer song. Rakshitha welcomed the gathering. DCP of Crime and Traffic, Dr Sanjeev Patil inaugurated the programme by lighting the traditional lamp along with other dignitaries. A street play depicting day-to-day crime scenarios and possible methods of their prevention was performed by Ajith and group.
Appreciating the street play and its message, Dr Sanjeev Patil said that schools and colleges have always been a source of energy and will continue to be so. “Unfortunately, we see certain incidents where the youth indulge in things that they are not supposed to, thereby embarrassing their family, friends and institute. The annual damage caused by cyber crime around the world is estimated to be Rs 29 lakh crore, which is almost 1/3rd of the union budget of our country.”
He further said that smartphones have become powerful weapons in this day and age. “We spend too much time, energy and resources picking up frivolous fights in social media which do us more damage. The damage caused is at a personal level; it could be physical, emotional or social. When a person uses social media as a tool to hurt somebody, we need to report it.” Dr Patil asked the gathered students to take a pledge to report any cyber crime activity that they come across to the police. He also explained about the different types of cyber crimes and the punishment for each.
Jacintha D’Souza, former principal of School of Social Work, expressed her views regarding smartphones and other technologies. “Smartphones can lead and mislead people. It has its advantages and disadvantages. It can be used for bring people together or divide them. The police force face risks every day. They risk their lives for our safety and we should appreciate their service and be grateful to them,” she added.
Presiding over the programme, Registrar of School of Social Work, Dr Laxminarayana Bhat said that cyber crime is something which everyone dreads. “Technology and development comes with a price. We can’t spin back the wheel of time and go back to the 19th century. We have to always move forward. But at the same time, we have to be aware of the dangers that technology and development pose. Technology is like a knife. It can be used to cut an apple, an orange or even a person. Can we blame the knife for what we make it do? Similarly, we can’t blame the technology, but the one using it. All the people involved in cyber crimes are high technocrats; they are well educated. That is why catching them requires equal expertise to supersede them and this is the difficult part.”
He further said that Facebook has become such an addiction to students today that they are not able to face their books. “They only Facebook. Just because you can’t live without it, does not mean that you have to live only on it. We should use caution while using the knife called technology,” he added.
Thereafter, twelve papers were presented by students of various colleges on the topic. The participants also shared their experiences about cyber crimes.
ACP of South Sub-Divison – R R Kalyan Shetty, PI of Mangalore South Police Station – Dinakar Shetty, Prof Ananth Prabhu, Saritha D’Souza and others were present. Sushmitha delivered the vote of thanks. Anupama Hosur compered the programme.
