CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Children spending more time on the internet are exposed to greater cyberspace security and safety threat.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development in Region III raised this concern as the prolonged community quarantine brought by the coronavirus pandemic boosted the time of children to use social media.
DSWD Family Development Session focal person Ronsan Pelariza noted that vast as the internet is, children who use it are at risk of various forms of abuse.
“Nowadays, children are using the internet for communicating with others, for recreation, or for online learning. Now that they have the time and the luxury to use their gadgets, and engage on social media, they are at a great risk of cyberbullying or other cyber abuses,” Pelariza said.
Given the dangers, she warned, it is important for parents to make sure their children are safe when exposed to surfing online.
“It is important that the parents, as digital parents, guide their children when browsing online. We started the campaign last year as one of the Family Development Session On-Air topics under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program. We are teaching the guardians on how to regulate their children’s use of gadgets,” she explained.
Pelariza said that they are educating parents on the features to restrict or block malicious sites on the Internet, and how to check sites visited by their children.
This, as the DSWD continues to remind parents of the importance of establishing an open line of communication between them and their children, and within the family.
“Despite the guidelines that we are teaching them, the most important thing is to have a strong relationship with their children to prevent the risk in the use of gadgets and the Internet. It is vital that the children are able to share and talk about their problems to their parents,” she added.
She said that parents could lessen the exposure of the children to gadgets by allowing them to do physical activities that would also serve as bonding time for the family.
National Baseline Study on Violence Against Children says that 43.8 percent or almost half of Filipino children have experienced cyberviolence or online violence. — Jag Lyra Costamero/PIA-3
