Child psychologist Dr Rose Muchemi has told parents and guardians that effective parenting is key to protecting children while using the internet.
Muchemi said that effective parenting does not mean controlling everything your child does online but being watchful.
"When we come to social media and exposure to the internet, we need to be careful because children are very good receptors," she said.
She said that whatever they take in, they absorb like sponges and they may take it even further and practice what they absorbed.
Muchemi was speaking during the launch of the Digital Parental Literacy Programme by the Kenya Films and Classification Board in Nairobi.
She said that exposure to social media has gone from being solely in urban areas to rural areas.
"As a parent, if you are keen, you will see the byproduct of what they have absorbed online," she said.
She said in her line of duty, she has seen children who have been exposed to pornographic materials or gaming apps and the child has gone way too far before the parents, community, or teachers realise.
"You will find that the house help realised before everyone else but because she has no voice in that house, she will not talk," she said.
She said instead of all this neglect, parents can just control what children are consuming.
"Get control passports, access those gadgets once in a while. Don't just leave them to their own devices despite how demanding our careers are," she told parents.
However, she added, parents should not deny their children access to their friends' houses because it shows a lack of trust.
"Instead, allow that friend to come over to your house. That is the only way you can know the kind of effect they have around your child," she said.
