Over Half of 8-12 Year Olds in Nepal Exposed to Cyber Risks

According to a recent study by the Digital Intelligence (DQ) Institute, around 58 percent of children aged between 8 and 12 years are exposed to cyber risks in Nepal.

The details:

• DQ, an international think tank, studied the current state of online child safety and digital citizenship in 29 countries with 38,000 children aged between 8 and 12 years. 85 percent of the children under study used social media.
• According to the report, children in Nepal are exposed to one or more cyber risks such as cyber bullying, video game addiction, online grooming and online sexual behaviours while using the Internet.
• Children were especially susceptible to cyber bullying (49 percent) followed by online sexual behaviours (26 percent) and meeting online strangers (15 percent).
• Globally, the cyber risk percent among children of the age group is 56 percent. Children who have a mobile phone have a 20 percent higher likelihood of cyber-risk exposure and have 12 more hours of screen time per week than children who do not own mobile phones.
• In light of these numbers, DQ has conducted a strategic global movement called #DQEveryChild™ in association with the World Economic Forum to empower children with DQ at the start of their digital lives.
• The DQWorld.net is a research-based online platform for teaching and assessing digital citizenship skills to children. The platform is available to everyone and free of cost.
• In Nepal, Mr. Kedar Kilanbu and Apex ICT Institute have started the DQ movement by bringing the DQ Screen Time Study to local schools to teach proper digital use habits to young children.