By; Mgandi Ngala
Clerics drawn from different denominations at the Coast have urged parents to monitor what their children and doing while online.
The clerics from the Catholic and Pentecostal churches have called for a close monitoring of children while learning from the digital space so as to bar them from accessing illicit images and information.
Speaking in Mombasa on Saturday the clerics said that children in the current era have developed a sense of searching for pornographic material while conducting their activities in the internet.
Led by Mombasa Catholic Archbishop Martin Kivuva they said that compared to the past years, children were now accessing the internet freely through mobile phones provided by their own parents while the parents were less involved in their online activities.
He said that without close monitoring of what children engage in while online the young generation will slowly be washed away.
He admitted that though the online platform was very useful for children to expand knowledge, most of them were coming across ‘dirty’ material which they seem to be enjoying.
“Since parents have created a gap in their main roles of proper upbringing of their children, children are at liberty to do what they want thus searching for illicit content through the internet” he added.
Bishop Kivuva said that though the government has successfully implemented the digital literacy program in schools, while at home or in cyber cafés, children would search for information above their age.
He noted that peer influence was another contributing factor for the children to search for pornographic material while online.
“If we are serious in curbing cyber crime and safety for our children, then we should focus more on what the children search while online,” he added.
Bishop Tee Nalo from the Pentecostal churches in Mombasa raised concerns over early pregnancies among underage.
He noted that such social problems were caused by the ‘floating teacher’ through the internet, which should be the top agenda for the government.
