Shame of analogue parents in digital era

The availability of cheap mobile phones with internet access is exposing young people to pornographic movies and sites, a new study says.

The United Nations Children’s Fund study released Friday says children are unaware of the risks.

The study focused on 152 children aged between 12 to 17 years who befriend unknown people.

“These young people use the net to explore and be inquisitive. Social or sometimes even exhibitionist among those they befriend may occasionally lead to risky behaviour.

“Many befriend people they have never met and have a blurred distinction between online-only and friends from school or the neighbourhood,” it says.

“Whether their friends are those they meet in school — or individuals they know only though Facebook — these young people refer to both groups as friends. At the same time, some of them may try to meet these online-only friends offline (in person),” it says.

According to the study, the awareness of the risks of engaging in unsafe behaviour online is “actually very low”.

“Many think that repercussions of risky behaviour only happen to other people,” it says.

The study says these young people want to learn about digital safety but on their own terms. “They want to learn from their peers and from information they find online. They don’t believe their parents possess the information or skills to inform them,” the study says.

It adds that there is a substantial gap between these children’s digital skills and behaviour and their parents’ digital awareness.

“This knowledge gap is even greater for those living in poorer urban neighbourhoods or rural areas. Some exceptions, however, exist in more urban and affluent areas where parents may be digitally literate,” the report says.

“Parents often control their children’s digital use because they say it will distract them from their studies or ruin their character. There is very little exchange between parents and children on digital safety and how some online behaviour may be risky,” it says.

The study says additionally — due to parents’ lack of understanding of digital media — the role it plays in aiding learning is rarely addressed.

“Instead, discussions on the internet and social media revolve around restricting young people’s use. According to them, the more parents try to control them, the more they are attracted to what is prohibited,” it says.

It says while use of social and digital media is expanding rapidly among young people, parental support is lagging behind.

“There is relatively easy access to entertainment and pornography but fewer visible examples for parents and their children of how social media and digital technologies can be used for education and information. This will evolve as Kenya adjusts to the expanding information society,” the report adds.

Speaking during the launch of the study at the Laico Regency Hotel in Nairobi, Unicef Kenya representative Marcel Kanyankore said the freedom to explore digital and social media provides young people with the privacy to explore their identities free from adult interference.

“We know they are constantly chatting, texting, messaging 24 hours a day via e-mail, social media platforms or mobile phones.

“However, Unicef is committed to working with them to making them aware of the potentially negative aspects of digital use,” he said.

Mr Kanyakore praised Government’s efforts through the Communication Commission of Kenya and the Department of Children’s Services in bolstering online child protection.

Dr Lukoye Atwoli, a consultant psychiatrist and lecturer at Moi University’s School of Medicine, corroborated the Unicef findings.

Dr Atwoli described online interaction as an inevitable change that has accompanied technology but warned that prolonged time online affects social relations.

“Persons who are addicted to the internet become socially inept especially when assigned jobs like nursing, teaching, psychologist and others that require one to interact with individuals,” he said.

They become socially awkward because they are used to communicating via social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, he warned.

We cannot completely eliminate face-to-face communication because man retains the need to meet and greet, Dr Atwoli added.