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Apps to monitor your children on Internet
TORONTO, April 2, 2013: With smartphone and tablet users getting younger, new apps can
help parents of 2-to-13-year-olds monitor and control their children's use of the Internet.
A Pew Research Center study shows that more than one-third of American
teenagers own a smartphone, up from more than a fifth in 2011. For nearly half of these users, the phone is their main way of getting
online, making it difficult for parents to supervise their behavior.
"When you have a smart phone, you basically have the Internet in your
pocket wherever you are - away from your parents' eyes," said Anooj Shah, a partner in Toronto-based company
Kytephone, which develops apps.
Kytephone's namesake app allows parents to control the apps and sites
their children use and the people they receive texts and calls from.
The company on Monday released Kytetime for 13-to-17-year-olds. The new
app has many of the same features as Kytephone but does not include the
ability to block calls.Earlier this month, Net Nanny, a monitoring software company, released a
browser app for Apple Inc's iOS devices to filter Web content and block profanity.
"Smart phones and tablets have added new technology, with new challenges
(for parents) - full Web browsing capability, unlimited texting, access
to hundreds of thousands of good, bad and malicious apps," said Russ
Warner, chief executive officer of the Salt Lake City-based company.
The Android version of Net Nanny, which sells for $12.99, can control
which apps a child uses. The app is also available for iOS devices, with fewer applications, for $4.99.
The company is also introducing Net Nanny Social, a subscription, Web-based tool to help parents monitor problems such as
cyberbullying, sexual predators and identity theft on social networks including
Facebook and Twitter. The service costs $19.99 per year. For parents of 2-to-8-year-olds, Boston-based Playrific
has a free app with a locked browser that allows only content suitable for
children, including educational videos, interactive games and books.The app,
available for Android, iPad and on the Web, curates content based on a child's interests, which it learns over time. Source: The Times of India
Three students chained, forced to clean toilets by teachers in Mumbai
Mumbai, March 18, 2013 (PTI): A teacher and the headmistress of a school in Mumbai have been booked
for allegedly chaining and parading three students after they were found
fighting in the classroom last week and were also forced to clean toilets, police said.
"We have registered a case against the school headmistress and teacher under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice
(Care and Protection of Children) Act. We will see (if) some other charges can be invoked. We have not arrested them yet," deputy
commissioner of police Dhananjay Kulkarni said. The official said that the police plans to speak to other students
before taking any action.
After the incident came to light on Wednesday, the boy's father Prakash
Gandhi visited the school to complain against the teacher. However, after not getting a satisfactory response from the school authorities,
he lodged a police complaint at the Dadar police station. In his police complaint, he alleged that the three boys were called out
of the classroom, following which their hands were tied and then paraded in classrooms.
"They were also asked to clean school toilets", Gandhi said, adding that
the case was registered on Friday evening. The school authorities or the accused could not be contacted despite
repeated attempts. Source: Hindustan Times
Rajasthan police rescue 50 children living with little food
Jaipur , March 14, 2013: Nearly 50 children, who were kept in two illegal
children's home here for months with little food amid pathetic living conditions, have been
rescued by a team of Rajasthan Commission for Protection of Child Rights, police said today. On a tip off from Delhi, the team led by the Commission Chairperson
Deepak Kalra raided a home in Mansarover area last night where 27 girls
and two boys, aged between 5 and 17, were found. They were lodged in an illegal children's home run by one Jacob John.
The children are from various states like Punjab, Manipur,
Nagaland, Jharkhand and were in the house for several months. Empty liquor
bottles, stale food and fungus covered vegetables were found in the home, police said.
"The children's home was running without permission. The children lived
in a poor state and they were given stale food. They did not have proper
food for the last few days and were hungry," the police said. Another such child home was also raided and 20 boys rescued in Jawahar
Nagar locality, they said. The children were brought here on the pretext of providing them
education were never sent to school and not allowed to go out of the
home. Jacob has been arrested for illegal confinement of kids and he is
being quizzed, they said. Source: The Indian Express
168 child labourers rescued from Rajasthan
New Delhi, March 11 (IANS) A Delhi-based voluntary organisation has
rescued 168 child labourers from Rajasthan while they were being trafficked out of the
state, an NGO official said Sunday."The children were rescued from the
Bharatpur railway station by NGO CHETNA Saturday while they were being taken from Jaipur to an unknown
destination," Sanjay Gupta, director of Childline Agra, which is run by
NGO Childhood Enhancement Through Training and Action (CHETNA), told
IANS. Gupta said the rescued children work in various bangle factories across
Rajasthan, and are employed through child traffickers who bring them into the state.
The children were moved out of the state in view of a police warning
that threatened action if child labourers working in the state's bangle
industry are not removed in 10 days. On Friday, 60 such children in the age group of 8-10 years were rescued
from the Agra railway station by Childline Agra. Gupta said: "There are around 60,000 child labourers working in the
bangle industry across the state. Strict action should be initiated against child traffickers."
As police failed to initiate action against those found involved in
child trafficking, a team was sent by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights
(NCPCR) to Bharatpur. "When we reached early today (Sunday), we found that
no FIR (first information report) was filed against those who were moving the
children. We have lodged an FIR and about 39 people have been arrested
in the case," Neena Naik, a member of the NCPCR team, said over telephone."Most of these children hail from Bihar and had been working in the
bangle industry ranging from two months to two years," she added. Naik said the team would engage the local administration, police and
NGOs to rehabilitate the rescued children. - IANS
Delhi protest over 'sex attack' on seven-year-old girl
New Delhi, March 2, 2013: People stand next to a bus that was damaged by the demonstrators during
a protest in New Delhi March 1, 2013. Protesters threw stones at passing buses. There have been violent protests in the Indian capital, Delhi, after
reports that a seven-year-old girl was sexually assaulted at school.
Police used batons to break up angry crowds outside a hospital where the
girl had been taken for treatment. Teachers and security guards at the government school are being
questioned over the alleged assault, police said. The gang rape and murder of a student on a Delhi bus in December sparked
protests across India.
Hundreds of people gathered to protest outside the Sanjay Gandhi
hospital in the Mangolpuri area of north-eastern Delhi as news of the
alleged sex attack in a local school spread. Protesters attacked buses and pelted police with stones.
The protests came as India's parliament held an angry debate over the
rape and murder of three sisters in the state of Maharashtra.The issue of sexual violence against women and girls has been under
intense scrutiny in India following the rape and murder of a student on
a Delhi bus in December. Source: BBC News
1.7 lakh kids missing in India: SC raps states
New Delhi, February 3, 2013: Figures are shocking. Statistics say that around 177,600
children in India went missing between 2009 and 2011, out of whom 55,450
are yet to be traced. Finally, Supreme Court has taken note on the
issue. The apex court has instructed the chief secretaries of all the
states and Union territories to ask all the police stations to register
an FIR and start an investigation in cases of missing children Most of
the NGOs working for child rights allege that police often hesitate to register FIR on missing children.
Activists say that police negligence has increased the problem.
The Supreme Court also directed that all police stations should have a
special juvenile police officer to deal with the cases of missing children. The apex court’s order came in the wake of a PIL filed by NGO
Bachpan Bachao Andolan, which works for underprivileged children. The
NGO in its PIL stated that over 1.7 lakh children have gone missing in
the country between January 2008-2010. In the PIL, it was also mentioned
that they fear that many of the missing kids were kidnapped for trafficking in flesh trade and child labor. The petitioner said: “The
instances of missing children are highest in Maharashtra followed by
West Bengal, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh. The number of untraced missing
children is highest in West Bengal followed by Maharashtra, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh
The apex court has also ordered the chief secretaries of Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Gujarat,
Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Goa to be present in court on
February 5. The chief secretaries of West Bengal and Karnataka got an
exemption after their respective counsels pleaded miscommunication. India Tribune
Babysitter gadgets up speech problem in kids
LONDON, January 04, 2013: The number of children in the United Kingdom
with speech difficulties has leapt 70% in six years and the growing use of
screen-based gadgets is being blamed for it, according to a new study. As many as 1.2 million young Britons struggle with speech and half of
pupils in some areas start school not being able to put sentences together . The rise is being blamed on the growing use of screen-based
gadgets as convenient "babysitters" and a trend for hard-working parents to spend less time
with their children, the 'Daily Mail' reported.
The findings from a new government-funded study show the number of
schoolchildren needing expert help for speech and language difficulties
rose 71% between 2005 and 2011. The analysis found that 2.25 of youngsters aged five to 16 were classified as having difficulties in 2011.
However, the figures do not capture pupils who are identified as having
speech difficulties and are helped within their schools without recourse
to specialists. The children's charity 'I CAN' said other studies had suggested that 1.2
million youngsters of all ages across the UK have some form of communication problem.
They include children with specific conditions that lead to speech
problems and others whose environment may play a part in their language
difficulties. As many as 50% of children in some parts of the UK particularly
areas of social disadvantage start school with delayed language, the charity said.
The sharp rise in cases of speech difficulties was likely to be down to
21st century living , as well as better identification by parents and
schools, said Jean Gross, former government speech and language tsar and
a trustee of I CAN. Gross warned that screen based technology including TVs, games
consoles, smart phones and computers - was increasingly used to occupy
children instead of traditional family activities such as learning nursery rhymes.
"Head teachers are telling me they are seeing a real increase in the
number of children who struggle to string words together," she said. Source: Times of India
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