“Your child does NOT have the right to be fed, clothed, housed and educated, nor does your child have the right to safety,” said no-one!

What if parents agreed with this notion, however? You would be appalled, correct?

How many of you parents make it your business to keep your child safe online at all times? How many of you have put in parental controls limiting device-use time and setting “downtime” hours on all devices, as well as blocking certain apps or limiting time spent on particular apps? Have you talked to your children about the potential dangers they might face online? Does your child share his or her location with any app or website? Is your child’s phone/device contact list shared with apps such as Instagram or Snapchat? What personal information does your child share on their social media platforms? Does your child share hobbies or the sports played, the school he or she attends, photos of your house, or even where your family is currently on vacation? Have you vetted every single one of their “friends” or followers online? Do you allow your child to play online games with people they have never actually met in person? Does the online game, which your child is playing, facilitate chatting with strangers, text or voice, and have you put the settings to disable this feature? Does your child go on YouTube? Do you know the content of every single video your child has watched or is watching? Does your child ever watch TikTok reels or videos? Are you aware of the content TikTok feeds to your child in the “suggested for you” feed? Have you read RTÉ Prime Time Experiment reveals disturbing content recommended to 13 year old Tik Tok users? Do you check your child’s phone regularly to ensure that he or she is not exposed to any inappropriate content, via any website or app, including communication with people he or she does know? Do you allow your child to take his or her device into a bedroom or private space with the door closed? Do you allow your child to have any device in the bedroom overnight?

If you read the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children, which contains 54 Articles in total, you will find several Articles that could arguably include a child’s right to cyber safety (online safety). Article 17, in particular, bears the language that puts the onus on us, as the adults, to ensure that the information children get online is not harmful. “Children have the right to get information from the Internet, radio, television, newspapers, books and other sources. Adults should make sure the information they are getting is not harmful. Governments should encourage the media to share information from lots of different sources, in languages that all children can understand.” Convention on the Rights of Children – Child Friendly Version

In Article 34 of the aforementioned, it explicitly insists “The government should protect children from sexual exploitation (being taken advantage of) and sexual abuse, including by people forcing children to have sex for money, or making sexual pictures or films of them.”

Surely children should equally be protected from online sexual exploitation, such as cyber grooming, both by strangers and people they know.

Oh, wait! The Convention on the Rights of Children – Child Friendly Version does technically have a blanket cover for every single form of exploitation, as depicted in Article 38: “Children have the right to be protected from all other kinds of exploitation (being taken advantage of), even if these are not specifically mentioned in this Convention.”

I know that this all sounds incredibly daunting and time consuming. How on earth are we, as parents, expected to monitor our child’s every move online? Don’t you know we have jobs and homes to look after? We have to worry about feeding our families and paying the bills, as well as ensuring that our children do their homework. Simply put, we are not with our children 24 hours a day. This, however, does not exempt us from the obvious responsibility, in all matters, which we have for our children, whose lives are very much entwined with the online world. Thus, we must make every effort to set aside the time to educate ourselves and put parameters in place when it comes to our children’s online presence. Remember if your child has access to the world online, then the world has access to your child. The cyber world is not a game of “let’s play pretend”, but rather, real life on steroids. Within seconds, a message, a post, an image or a video can be shared and go viral, or within minutes your child could be exposed to inappropriate content and exploitation.

Drawing from my own screen-time rules, which have morphed over the years from allowing certain cartoons on Apple TV or NickJr and Disney movies on DVDs, to safeguarding my children’s current online exposure as best as possible, and of course pulling from my mentors at CyberSafeKids, I do have ten tips to get you started. (see attached)

The truth is, even the rules and parameters that I place on myself have changed, as each day I am still learning more ways to safeguard myself, my family and my friends. And while it is imperative for me to protect my own children, there is an overwhelming need for all children to be protected online. For those of us who can be a part of this, we must do so. For this to be effective in every way, all adults need to learn about cyber safety. If we want children to buy into the idea that cyber safety is essential, adults have to buy into the same. In order for all adults to get on board, clear and stringent cyber safety laws should be put in place here in Jamaica. While there is a supposed to be a National Child Online Protection Committee, I do feel very strongly that there should be a specific “Child’s Right to Online Safety” Act. That said, for this to be executed and enforced, cyber safety awareness must be simultaneously brought to all Jamaicans through our education system and through media in a collaborative effort. So, a big shout out and my gratitude to Sunrise CVMTV for beginning to get on board with me at CyberBright.

Stay Sharp and #BeCyberBright.

emma@becyberbright.com