The internet isn’t always a safe place, especially for a nascent teenager. So, what could 13-year-old Nitika Gadura do about it? Well, for starters, she participated in the Web Rangers contest, an initiative launched by Google India to spread awareness about cyber safety and promote the safe usage of the internet amongst teenagers. The Bengalurean created a poster that won her the award in the second edition of the initiative.
An eighth-grader at PSBB Learning Leadership Academy, Bengaluru, Nitika claims that the results came as a complete surprise. “I never imagined that I would win. I was really shocked because it was a last minute effort. I was hoping to win, but didn’t really expect it,” she says excitedly.
Always inclined towards the Arts, Nitika started doodling a year ago out of boredom. When she heard about the competition at school — four days prior to the deadline, she figured that it wouldn’t hurt to give it a shot. While her friends helped her with the research, Nitika doodled her ideas on an A4 sheet of paper using only black and orange gel pens. In the first attempt, the poster looked ready. “It’s pretty easy to cover up mistakes in a doodle. So, it was quite easy for me,” she confesses.
This was the first art competition Nitika has participated in. She says that she hasn’t thought about art as a career, but now, she’d definitely love that. “I might become an animator. But I’m not sure, I’m still undecided,” she says. While Google Plus is the only social media platform Nitika uses, she says that she is now more aware of the internet and what’s safe out there.
In an effort to promote digital literacy and awareness about internet safety, Google launched the Web Rangers initiative two years ago.