Debra Ouma-Weya, Sheillah Magomere, Monica Mugure and Baraka Achayo pose after the Kids and Tech: Are they safe? event that was held in Nairobi.
Every child has a right to Safety, Protection, Education and Health and we should support them in all ways to ensure a great future for them. Although online platforms are great for learning, it is important to regulate the type of content children are exposed to.
An African child is becoming more vulnerable to social ills, injustices and abuse of rights. Let us step up and advocate for an environment that is conducive for the girl child and boy child.
With the fast penetration and easy access of internet, parents and guardians have had to soothe their kids with phones, tablets and laptops; so our children have had easy access to internet and they are online for long periods.
Dear parent or guardian, do you know what content your child is consuming online?
As a parent or guardian, ensure that your kid is protected, safe and healthy while online by regulating and monitoring the type of content they are consuming.
How to Protect Your Kids While Online
Know who your children’s online friends are
As a guardian and parent, it is important to know who your children’s online friends are, so that you can understand the values they uphold, who they are and even what they share with your children.
As a parent if you do not pay attention to this, it is likely that your child is being bullied, abused or even harassed or consuming content which is unsafe and unhealthy.
Knowing your kid’s online friends helps you to identify the type of information your kid is consuming; this way they are safe and protected.
Before buying games or before allowing your kid to watch them ensure that you also watch and play them
It is important for a parent and guardian to have conversations like which games? Who is playing with the kid? And before you consent, have you yourself played the game as a parent and guardian? If yes, how did it make you feel? Are you sure your child can handle those emotions?
It is interesting that parents do not ask themselves such questions and sad that they just give the child a phone, tablet or laptop to play games that they have no idea of the content.
So as a parent or guardian ensure that you play or watch whatever game or program a child would love to watch or play.
Keep devices and screens in a place you can monitor
As your kid accesses online through whatever device they have, a guardian or parent should ensure that they are able to access and monitor them. This ensures that you control whatever information they are accessing.
Remember, kids are too young and immature to understand what information is right or wrong, so as a parent you should keep devices in a place you can monitor or access and with this you can easily filter the information the kid is taking.
Block the chat boxes
As your kid accesses online, they are likely to end up chatting with people online. They might even end up receiving chats that are inappropriate; for instance they could be vulgar or sexually suggestive. To ensure the safety of your kid, block the chat boxes.
Keep track of online time
Remember, too much of something is poisonous and too much of online time for your child is poisonous.
Also read on: Effects of social media on mental health
Additionally, being online could be addictive to a child, so set a time limit for example, 30 minutes to an hour per day.
Moreover, led by example, it includes limiting your own screen time as kids are so quick to copy what you do, so you cannot limit them while you are online the whole day.
Teach your child about cyber bullying
As a parent or a guardian, it is important to tell your child about cyber bullying; for instance what it is, how it affects children and how to identify cyber bullying.
With this kind of information, your kid would easily identify it when it happens to them and also they could easily avoid cyber bullying others.
In case there is evidence of a child being bullied, do not delete it before reporting; for instance, the messages incriminating a groomer.
Peace is so important and it takes everyone’s effort, we need an enabling environment for the African child to feel safe and protected.
Be social network savvy
As a parent or guardian, it is important for you to educate yourself on ways to be safe on social networks so that they can give the best advice to your children. If need be, sign up to the social networks and applications your children are using and find out how.
With this, you are able to advice your kids accordingly.
Know your parental controls
Some searches could be innocent but it can lead to not-so-innocent results, so as a parent or guardian, it is wise for you to know how to use parental controls or use restrictions offered by web browsers, internet service providers or devices.
Though, it could not be 100% accurate, at least it can prevent your child from accessing or seeing sexual or violent material. Additionally, a parent or guardian could pay for security tools and features which will offer extra protection and control.
Conclusion
We should embrace the use of technology by kids instead of only highlighting the risks associated. Tech is a nudge driver in the economic landscape and it is a big plus if African children can acquire skills early on.
So parents should stop being paranoid because of technology and instead create awareness to their kids by educating and putting on the above measures.
“Our children are our greatest treasure. They are our future. Those who abuse them tear at the fabric of our society and weaken our nations.” Nelson Mandela.
Special thanks to: @legalsister and @positivecircles (with the support of their event partners) for beginning and championing this wonderful movement.
Event Partners: Positive Circles, Legal Sister, Childline Kenya, Mtoto News, Eveminet Communications.
Photography: Lincshot Photography
Mercy is a writer at Masisha. She writes about Health, Technology and Lifestyle.