Before the Internet, people around the world moved endlessly to meet their needs. Things were far from today’s lifestyle that goes by the touch of fingertips. With the Internet here, anything and almost everything can be obtained in just a single click.
Being online has not just become essential, it has become our way of life.
The Internet gives us access to a billion’s worth of data and information. We can now throw any imaginable question to the web, and Google will never run out of answers and explanations for it. Very cool, right?
We also have to realize though that while we have enough reasons to thank the Internet for, being exposed to it unguardedly may also bring us harm. It is so much like real life – if we lack practical knowledge about things, we would wind up getting lost.
Are our children smart enough for the Internet?
The Philippines, being a millennial country, has a high chunk of children and youth population online. As early as three years old, children get exposed to the freedom of everything on the Internet. This gives them the vulnerability to all the bad, besides all the good.
For parents and teachers reading this, here are things to think about – when exposed to abuse or compromising things online, are you confident that your children will do the right thing? Will they be able to protect their selves when attacked or bashed? Are your children smart enough to weather through difficult situations online?
The state of our children online
In the Philippines, children have become victims of online pornography.
According to a study called “Perils and Possibilities: Growing up online” published by UNICEF, over 40% of young people began using the Internet before they were 13 years old. UNICEF has also noted that as Internet access becomes more and more accessible, violence against children increasingly shifts to digital as well.
One of the digital violence cases mentioned in the study was that of a nine-year-old Filipina named “Lorna” who was forced to perform sexual acts while being streamed online. Her compromising videos were sold to various sexual predators from around the world.
Another alarming case of child online sexual abuse involved a 17-year old Filipina and her six other minor siblings. Based on the report, she and her siblings were rescued during a cyber crime police raid. Tragically, it was their own parents who obliged them to do sexual acts while being streamed online.
So who will guide our children online?
In a connected country like the Philippines, children are vulnerable to being abused and exploited online. And it is not just poverty that drives children susceptible to harm, there are also other factors like ignorance on proper usage and lack of parental guidance.
As children get exposed to digital threats, homes and schools play crucial roles in preventing these. Sadly, it’s been proven that children tend to turn to their friends first rather than their own parents and teachers when faced with different threats online. To work this one out, the gap between parents and teachers and their respective children must first be addressed.
How? Parenting must take a digital shift. It’s time that we bond with our children over the Internet. Ask them where they usually go to – the websites they access and the mobile apps that they use. At the end of the day, it helps to guide them on their usage and assure them of support if something bad ever happens.
Are we well-equipped to guide our children online?
In the absence of an official “Internet police”, we could use the help of subject matter experts and relevant services to help protect our children online. Among these are global child advocacy leader UNICEF and locally, leading Internet companies PLDT and Smart. These two have in fact joined hands to produce relevant programs in line with child online protection.
To start with the home, parents can consider availing PLDT’s FAM ZONE offering
Indeed, the responsibility of raising children now extends to the digital world. After all, the Internet is here to stay. Children must not just be taught to be street-smart but also “digital-smart”. Nowadays, they are left out there to cross not just the physical kind of highways and crossroads. Much more, the exciting and enriching – but sometimes scary – world of the Internet, is also for our children to navigate and help shape.
To enhance this service with useful knowledge and tips, parents can turn to https://www.unicef.org/online-safety/.
