Ministry of Labour and Social Protection Principal Secretary Joseph Motari has urged parents to take care of children’s safety while using the internet.
Speaking during the observance of the National Safer Internet Day at ASK grounds in Nakuru on Tuesday, Motari urged children to be keen on age restrictions set for content viewing on the internet.
The event also had banners set up with toll numbers using the code 116 “fichua dhuluma mtandaoni” to send cyber attack reports.
“Watoto wetu nawasihi sana ukichukua hiyo simu kuna umri ya ile information unatakiwa kuangalia,” Motari said.
Parents were also cautioned on the vices that affect children on the internet such as sexual assault cases in exchange for money, taking away dignity and destroying the child’s future.
They were also advised to ensure a connection with the children and give them attention when they tell them problems they encounter engaging on the internet spaces.
“Under the internet superhighway that is being constructed, the internet will be everywhere and it will be there for us to use it, we should have programs directed to our children so that we make them understand what it is they should watch on the internet,” Nakuru county commissioner Loyford Kibara said.
PS Motari also noted that the government shall continue creating digital hubs in every ward to ensure internet reach across the nation, especially in rural areas.
A report by Disrupting Harm Project in 2021 shows that approximately 3.3 million children aged between 12 and 17 years in Kenya have been victims of online child sexual exploitation.
According to Unicef, more than a third of young people in 30 countries report being cyberbullied, with 1 in 5 skipping school because of it while some 80 per cent of children in 25 countries report feeling in danger of sexual abuse or exploitation online.
