A member of the Board of Trustees of Kindest Care Foundation (KCF), Mr Abiodun Bamidele, has urged parents to take active responsibility for regulating their children’s use of social media and the internet.
Bamidele made the call in Abuja while speaking on the sidelines of the foundation’s Children’s Day outreach to paediatric cancer patients.
He said regulation must begin at home, stressing the need for proper parental guidance and warning that unregulated exposure to online content could pose risks to children’s wellbeing and development.
“Parents have to be proactive and manage their children properly when giving them tablets or phones to use.
“Why are we giving them phones? Are we controlling what they are seeing on the internet?” he asked.
Bamidele acknowledged the importance of the internet but stressed that parents must monitor the type of content their children access online.
He urged parents to be deliberate about when and how they introduce digital devices to their children.
“It needs to be regulated. It is something that has to be controlled from the home. We cannot control that from the street,” he said.
Bamidele described children as “very important” and likened raising them to an investment.
“If you take care of money today, the money will take care of you tomorrow.
“In the same way, if you take care of children today, they will take care of you tomorrow. Train them and manage their health very well,” he said.
According to him, unregulated social media use could expose children to harmful materials and negatively affect their mental and physical health.
He called for increased awareness among parents on digital parenting and child online safety.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that KCF provides humanitarian support, healthcare assistance, social welfare services and empowerment initiatives for vulnerable children and communities. NAN