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Parent tool to monitor children's online activities

Simnikiwe Mzekandaba
By Simnikiwe Mzekandaba, IT in government editor
Johannesburg, 24 Aug 2015
The DTPS hopes to assist parents to cope with the challenges of parenting in the digital age.
The DTPS hopes to assist parents to cope with the challenges of parenting in the digital age.

As more children become early adopters of technology devices and gain online access, the risk of them being exposed to cyber bullying and exploitation also increases.

This is the view of telecommunications and postal services deputy minister Hlengiwe Mkhize, who says the fast-moving technological era means children are susceptible to being exposed to harmful content on the Internet and their mobile phones.

"As much as it is good for our socio-economic development of children, there is another side of the coin, which comes with dangers that are either physical or psychological that need to be mitigated," she says.

To address some of the risks South African children may be exposed to, the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services (DTPS) launched a children's empowerment and protection ICT strategy, which includes an e-Parenting programme.

The deputy minister says the key challenge will be the alignment of policy and regulation of the various pieces of legislation in the ICT sector and its impact on children.

Safe interaction

The department's e-Parenting programme aims to support parents to cope with the challenges of parenting within the digital age, and will be implemented as part of the Child Online Protection (COP) initiative.

The COP is a guide for the department on the conceptualisation, implementation and monitoring of all children's programmes to be introduced in the ICT sector.

"The aim is to ensure children are safe when they are interacting ?online," she says.

Mkhize says as national information on previous such initiatives is unavailable, the programme concept for now, is going to be organic.

However, World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck believes there is a large amount of information available.

Goldstuck says the e-Parenting programme is a great initiative but seems to come from a bureaucratic perspective rather than from people who are already involved in this arena or committed to its goals.

"It needs an informed, involved approach, and needs to involve specialists as opposed to relying only on government functionaries," he notes.

ICT analyst Adrian Schofield adds it's not difficult - it takes some resources to carry out research into what has been done already elsewhere, to compile it and adapt it to South Africa's environment.

Working together

According to Schofield, the best interests for children in SA would be a collective responsibility that touches many government departments.

"The programme should not exist in isolation - it can only be one tool in a holistic approach that reaches out to parents, schools, youth organisations and the service providers. Even then, we must be aware that we have a long way to go before the majority of parents are 'connected' (or are aware that their children are connected) in order to benefit from this type of activity," he explains.

Parents must teach their children how to deal with life, with the support of the education system and other community members, says Schofield.

"We do not have different parenting structures for dealing with TV, newspapers, comics, traffic, electricity, fire or weather. Of course, we must make our children aware of the risks that life will put in their way and we should protect them as much as possible," he says.

Mkhize says the e-Parenting programme is not exclusionary of any organisation or member of society concerned about child online safety that can work with the department and share their information or experiences.

For the initial phase of the programme, the DTPS will work with parent organisations (Parent's Corner, DICAG, Parents Centre), RAPCAN, CJCP, Childline SA, Films and Publication Board and Media Monitoring Africa and Autism SA, says Mkhize.

Schofield says everyone who cares about the future generations on which South Africa will be built should be involved in making sure the programme is successful.

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