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The game, created by a Japanese firm, Illusion, has become a hotpick in the grey market. The game is freely available in the grey markets of Chennai and also Delhi, including the infamous Palika Bazar.

The copies are mostly pirated, which are made from original, which is smuggled in from Japan or purchased online. Most popular online stores had made it a point to have it removed from their online shelves, after concerns were raised on it.

Most of these games come under the category of hentai(japanese porn) which can be mostly downloaded from the internet.To quote Narayana Reddy, an eminent sexologist, “”Young people addicted to these games may start seeing violence as an integral part of sex. While films make children emulate characters, such games where the player is the character can make them act it out.”

Strangely enought, the authorities dont seem to be taking a stock of the situation. The central crime branch police says that they are yet to come across such games in raids.

Cert-In(Computer Emergency Reaction Team of the IT ministry) senior director BJ Srinath says “Our primary job is to prevent cyber crimes that threaten the national security. When such offensive websites are hosted in other countries, there is little we can do.”

This makes the families take charge themselves and they have to place their trust in parent control softwares installed in their computers.

If charge is not taken now to take steps to curb the menace, this might have effects which might end up being beyond control. A few directives that one, as a parent can follow are:

• use software, that helps you monitor the time spent by your kid on various sites.
• kid safe browsers like kidzui and kidrocket can also help.
• make sure everyone can see the monitor all the time.
• find out your child’s monitoring at browsing centres which end up becoming the homing ground for such games and adult material.

The best approach is being subtle, yet stern about the issue. Using too much force might make your child want to indulge in these things without your knowledge. Use your judgement to the best of your abilities.

In a previous post , I had talked about how to identify if your child is in trouble online, or might be getting stressed due to his or her lifestyle on the internet.

We might want to believe that the Internet is as safe a place as can be, but for children, or far that matter, the less learned, it can turn out to be quite a nuisance. Here, we talk about what should one do incase, inspite all the precautions, your child has run into trouble online.

In the previous article about your child addiction to the Internet, I had stated that there could be various situations where your child could get caught in. One of them was sharing personal information with strangers on the internet. Has your child recently given away your adress, email or postal, or your phone number to someone he doesn’t know?

Make it a point to talk to your child about dangers of exchanging information online. If your child has made contact, intentionally or otherwise, has any personal information  been exchanged? If so, change all means of communication and make sure that all contact stops immediatly. Contact school officials, authorities and make sure all family members know.

For school children, posting of videos where they are doing daring things, like taking drugs or alchohol could be posted online, as a part of looking cool. If you find out about any such thing, make sure you take it off the internet immediatly and get in touch with a lawyer if your child is arrested.

Another common problem is online harassment or better known as cyber bullying. This could be done by a stanger, an acquaintance, or someone right from school with whom your child may have had a fallout. The reason for this is simple; it becomes very easy to hide behind a computer.

If your child finds themselves as a victim, its time to contact the authorities. This becomes more important when your child does not know the person making threats. If the person is a former friend or someone from school, there are a number of things that you can do. You could arrange a meeting, be cautious and use your judgement. An alternative could be getting in touch with school authorities.

As one can see, the internet could turn out to be anything but safe for your child. Your duty as a parent is to make sure that you take steps and keep your child safe online.

• They get online the same time everyday.

Some predators act the same age as the child. Then , they get to work to win the trust of the one targeted. The process for the same could last from a few days to weeks. You may figure out something if your child chooses to get online at the same time, every single day.This may be a sure sign that they are communicating with someone who may not hold good intention towards your child.

• They don’t want you to see when they use the computer .

Does your child avoid you while using the computer? Do they try to keep their online activities a secret?If they automatically shut down the computer or put a game on, they may not want you to see whats going on. This may be a sure sign that they are doing something online that they shouldn’t, like having a direct conversation with a stranger who maybe a child predator.

• They are very low.

As I said before, your child could be happy using the internet, but another tell tale sign is that they are depressed when they sign off the computer. Many parents don’t realise that a lot of kids use the internet for harassment. If your child has a fallout with a friend, the harassment might be happening online. In this case, your child would appear to you as being extremely low and depressed.

• They are happy to get off the internet.

If your child is very happy when getting off the internet, it might be a cause for concern. They maybe on the verge of a relation which they are happy about. What a lot of teenagers dont realise is that anyone could actually hide behind a computer. This is why it is important to talk to your child about the dangers of online romance.

These signs are just a few of the many that your child is in trouble online. You might want to lookout for the biggest sign, i.e, a change in behaviour. If you doubt that your child is running a chance of getting into trouble online, make sure you get talking at the earliest.