Beware of social sites, parents told
By Ally Jamah
Parents have been advised to protect their children from sexual and psychological abuse.
Experts attending a conference on Child Internet and Security Awareness in Nairobi disclosed children face risks of bumping into online predators every time they surf the Internet.
Ms Sharon Mburu, 18, narrated how an unidentified Kenyan stalked her through Facebook sending lurid sexual messages and requesting meetings.
“I was really scared by the messages until I finally decided to block the man by removing him from my list of friends,” said she.
The story was the same for Linda Wanjala, 18, who was seduced by an elderly man who claimed to be a South African, but kept pressing her for a date but she declined.
Sexually abused
“I am sure there are many children who fall into the trap of this predators and end up being sexually abused without the knowledge of their parents,” she said.
Nominated MP Millie Odhiambo warned: “Predators are taking advantage of online social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Myspace to flirt with children and lure them into sex to satisfy their depraved sexual lusts. Parents must watch out.”
The MP, who is also a child rights activist, said on Tuesday predators often place attractive but false identities to pull their gullible victims into their deadly traps.
“There are real cases of mature adults who pose as a 17-year-olds and flirt with girls pushing them for sexual encounters. We need to protect our children,” she added.
Cradle Executive Director Eric Ogwang said while more children are going online through mobile phones, cyber cafÈs and home computers, many parents are still unaware of the dangers their children face online.
“The majority of Kenyan parents don’t know what their children are doing online or who they are meeting. But they need to get interested to protect their children,” he added.
Secret meetings
A report launched by The Cradle, a child rights NGO, revealed that some children had face-to-face meetings with people they met online without informing their parents.
The report, An Exploratory Study on Child Online Safety in Kenya, made the startling revelation after interviewing 325 children in Nairobi, 20 parents, 21 cyber cafÈs, and 10 Internet Service Providers.
“About 26 per cent of the children had at one time a face-to-face meeting with someone they had met for the first time on the Internet. None of them told their parents or guardians of the meeting,” said Brian Weke of the Cradle.
Plan International Communications Manager Kihu Irimu said parents cannot wish the Internet away and issuing blanket bans to their children not to go online makes little sense.
“Parents need to educate their children on the dangers of the Internet to help them become safe users,” said Irimu.
-Standard, February 9th, 2011 Pg 4.
By ALLY JAMAH
There is fresh concern about increasing cases of addiction to Internet pornography in Kenya.
Counsellors say more children and youth are being sucked into the habit of viewing sexually explicit materials from their mobile phones and computers, with some turning into actual addicts.
Mr William Gituru who works for Amani Counselling Centre and Training Institute in Nairobi said he increasingly sees cases of young Kenyans suffering from addiction to pornography.
“It is becoming a huge problem in Kenya, but few people are willing to talk about it including the victims, parents and teachers. But now we need serious and systematic action to tackle the problem that may be affecting many people,” he said Tuesday.
Drugs menace
Mr Gituru explained that addiction to pornography deserves as much attention as all other forms of addiction, including being hooked to drugs and alcohol.
“Children and youth who are addicted to pornography usually develop very unhealthy sexual behaviours and are more easily pulled into risky sexual behaviour to fulfill the sexual fantasies inspired by the pornography they have watched,” he said.
Standard, Published on 18/01/2011
- Posted in: Uncategorized
