DHAKA, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Tuesday warned of the dangers posed by online violence, cyber-bullying and digital harassment for the 32 percent children aged 10 to 17 years old who are online in Bangladesh and called for concerted action to tackle and prevent violence against children and young people online.
The call, made on Safer Internet Day, comes following a recent poll of young people, which received more than 1 million responses over five weeks from more than 160 countries, and suggestions from a series of student-led #ENDviolence Youth Talks held around the world.
"We've heard from children and young people from Bangladesh and around the world and what they are saying is clear: The Internet has become a kindness desert," said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF Bangladesh Representative.
"That's why this Safer Internet Day, UNICEF is following young people's lead and inviting everyone to be kind online, and calling for greater action to make the Internet a safer place for everyone, especially children."
According to the UNICEF Bangladesh study, about 25 percent of the children (aged 10-17) started to access the digital world below the age of 11. Besides, a large majority (63 percent) of the children use their own room as the primary Internet usage point. This indicates the prevalence of "bedroom culture" which allows less supervised Internet use.
