SOME Nigerians are demanding a special law to protect children against exposure to the Internet at an early age.
They asked telecommunication operators (Telcos) and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to restrict access to sexual contents for minors.
This is coming on the heels of the alleged rape of a 10-year-old pupil of Chrisland School, Victoria Garden City, Lagos, during an international competition in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The concerned individuals spoke at a Twitter Space organised by Olorisupergal, a social media influencer on Monday. The meeting was titled: Chrisland School: A pain in the heart of parents.
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It was a platform to discuss important role of proper parenting in a digital age, with reflection on the Chrisland school incident.
They argued that early use of phones by children under-18, and early exposure to the Internet, could lure pupils to ponographic contents, if left unchecked, hence, should be discouraged.
Parents who were too busy to take care of their wards, they said, could easily fall victim.
A lady identified as Lolooflagos @madamelolah called for a new policy to regulate the use of Internet by underage children.
She advised schools to be more proactive and engage teachers based on their specialisations.
The tutor who majored in French cited instance of the UAE where police gets immediate notification once a resident visits ponographic websites.
Another user, Kim Kadri shared same argument stating that government should restrict access to the Internet except those above 18.
“Until there is a regulation to the internet access, perhaps capping it for children where they don’t have access to phones until they are adults.”
Besides, Kadri raised need for parents to enlighten their children on sex education among children.
In his part, Michael @mtubeservations, suggested what he described as communal child upbringing.
This is a situation where members of the society or neighbourhood collectively support in ensuring a child maintains good upbringing.
“A nuclear family is the smallest unit of the society. I remember those years where an elderly person away from your parent can chastise you for wrong doings. It is no longer the case.
“We are in a period where parents will visit schools to arrest teachers for chastising their wards. So we need to go back to that method where people collectively rise to promote moral upbringing in children.”
The Chrisland school incident has thrown up different sentiments and arguments among Nigerians.
While some blamed it on poor parenting, others push it on poor government policy to protect the vulnerable.
This newspaper can confirm that through Nigerian Film Video and Censor’s Board (NFVCB), the Federal Government attempts to censor erotic scenes or explicit contents but most of the concerned movies still found their way to different homes.
The ICIR earlier reported how the mother of the victim accused the school management of a cover-up in a viral video.
She alleged that the school under guise of conducting a COVID-19 test secretly took the victim for a pregnancy test.
The school management subsequently placed the concerned pupil on suspension.
The Lagos State Government has closed all Chrisland schools in the state until further notice.
The police earlier told The ICIR it was investigating the incident.
Olugbenga heads the Investigations Desk at The ICIR. Do you have a scoop? Shoot him an email at [email protected]. Twitter Handle: @OluAdanikin