This teenager plans a cyber safety syllabus

MUMBAI, INDIA: At the tender age of 17, most teenagers are well aware of the possibilities of computer, Internet and the modern ways of communication. But how many of them are aware of the cyber threats and misuse of Internet and social networking sites? Very few.

And this teenager not just belongs to those few who are aware of the other side of technology but also he wants to educate others. 17-year-old Bangalore lad Shaurya Saluja is busy working on his ambitious project called RISE — India (Raising Information Security Education — India).

The RISE project intends to prepare cyber safety syllabus for students of class IX, XI and XII, which can help the children and youth to use the computers and Internet in a safer and smarter way to ensure a safer and sane online life.

“The objective is to educate prolific usage of Internet among students of grade 9-12 based on guidelines of cyber ethics and safety. My aim is not to restrict the usage of Internet but to exploit the Internet in a better and safer way which is not harmful,” Saluja says.

It was during the March this year, when Saluja took a two week internship at the Cyber Security Research Center (CSRC), the idea of cyber safety course came to his mind. Since then he has been developing the course materials and its structure.

Saluja has finalized the outline of his cyber safety course with various modules, details and references. At present he is working on creating the course content; however, on a pilot basis Indus International School where he is studying in class XII has implemented the course.

“Its (course) an open source model with four modules — cyber ethics, cyber laws, networks and protecting yourself. The course can be taught over a year’s time with around 30-40 minutes session per week,” he explains about the course.

Further he points out that the course has three levels with different marks for particular grades.

“First level with 100 marks for class IX, second level with 200 marks for class XI and third level with 300 marks. For the students of class IX, it is primary level course, while for the students of class XI and XII it is more upgraded and exhaustive,” Saluja adds.

He clarifies that the classes X students have been excluded from the course because their main focus is the board examinations. Since Indus International School has implemented his course on pilot basis, Saluja hopes that other schools such as ICSE, CBSE will also include his curriculum along with the regular subject courses and materials.

About future plans, Saluja states, “I want to start an NGO with a website and want to take helps of IT companies that give importance to CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility).

This way, he hopes, he would be able to take his curriculum to more schools, students, teachers and parents.

He will be attending the CSRC international conference slated on 24 November in Taiwan to present his survey findings based on the internship and these findings will then get published in an international journal.

“My curriculum involves roles of teachers and parents in teaching computers and Internet,” Saluja concludes.