• Strangers on the internet may exploit your child's weaknesses to gain their trust and later exploit them.
• Parents should monitor what their children are doing online so they can take care of them.
Child Protection specialist Clement Njoroge says absenteeism of parents places children in danger of being taken advantage of by strangers, especially online.
Children who do not have guidance and monitoring could fall prey to strangers pretending to be their friends, he says.
He warns that there are people online who are looking to abuse children and recruit them into industries such as pornography.
The specialist says strangers exploit vulnerabilities of the child to lure them into traps.
"These strangers will be there for the child, providing them with information and support that the parents don't because they are not present," Njoroge said.
Speaking to the Star on the phone, he said these predators are looking to 'groom' them to gain their trust.
"Eventually after the child has trusted the individual, it is easy to get them to meet offline or even send nudes to this 'nice' person," he said.
He also raised concern that parents were caught up in the wave of technology, spending even their free time on their gadgets.
Njoroge says there is an emerging trend within family setups, where everyone is always on their phones, even when they are out for family outings.
"Parents will take their children to outings and send them away to play as they are on their phones or with other grown-ups. They do not take any time to interact with their children," he says.
However, he warned that even parents were ignorant of how to use the internet.
"Parents are not properly guided on how to effectively and efficiently use the internet to help them attain spiritual, intellectual and personal development," he said.
Njoroge says if parents were educated on how to effectively use the internet, then they would be in a better position to take care of their children online.
He said most parents do not know what their children are doing online because they never monitored what sites they visit, what games they play online, what applications they are using and who they are interacting with.
"Children, especially those who are in the age of self-discovery, will get very excited to visit sites such as pornography, and are comfortable because of the anonymity the internet provides," he said.
"A lot of parents do not know what their children are doing online, what websites they visit, the games they play or the kind of content they upload or download."
Njoroge said since the internet was designed to be used by adults, a lot of children will lie about their age or use their parents' credentials to gain access to restricted sites.
ADDICTION, SUICIDE RISKS
He also warned that children can develop addictions if they are on their phones for too long.
"A lot of children will develop post-modem depression, which means that they get depressed if they are not online," he said.
"They are generally withdrawn if say their data runs out and are unable to relate to people offline or to concentrate."
The Nairobi-based specialist warned that children who left to use the internet unsupervised are also at risk of committing suicide.
"There are games online specifically designed to make you commit suicide, and children are lured to play these games by strangers they meet online," he said.
Njoroge told the Star that once children begin playing these games, they cannot stop because they are issued threats by people monitoring their progress.
"The games have several challenges that involve inflicting pain on their bodies, and someone monitoring the child will tell them that they will be killed or die if they stop playing," he said.
"The ultimate challenge is committing suicide, and the children will because they are scared."
Njoroge informed the Star of a game referred to as 'Blue Whale' that allegedly led to the death of one Kenyan boy in Nyamakima four years ago.
According to an article by BBC, the 'Blue Whale challenge' was reported to be an online "suicide game" aimed at teenagers, which set 50 tasks over 50 days.
The challenge was alleged to be linked to numerous deaths around the world.
Njoroge, however, said the internet does have a good side, which can be used to benefit both parents and children.
"We cannot stop people from accessing the internet, but we can educate them and create awareness on how to effectively and efficiently use the internet," he said.