93% Nigerian children exposed to online risks — Report

Nigerian children between the age range of 11 years and 16 years face huge risks online as 93 per cent of them go online using their mobile phones without any safeguard. This is according to the findings of research conducted by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

The survey, which focused on two age ranges, 11- 16, and 4-10 years, also found that 45 per cent of children in the latter age range also go online with their mobile phones, indicating a high rate of phone ownership among children in Nigeria.

According to the researchers, 7,013 respondents were surveyed across Nigeria. While the respondents included children, parents, and teachers, 5,681, representing 81 per cent, were children. The least popular means of access to the internet for both age groups is the school. The implication of this is that children often go online mostly through means that are not as actively moderated as either the internet café or the school.

“The aggregate effect is that children are inadvertently exposed to more online risks than would have been the case were they to use their schools’ devices to get online,” the researcher stated. The researchers added that based on the findings, the majority of children in Nigeria received little or no curation with their online activities from either parents or guardians.

“Most parents appear not to have rules about their children’s Internet use particularly with time limits and site restrictions,” they observed. According to the findings, a staggering 56 per cent of the 11-16 year-olds in both urban and rural areas do not have any form of restriction on their Internet use.

“The aggregate implication of this is that this bunch of youngsters can become digital nomads at liberty to wander the cybersphere tethered only by the elasticity of their data bundles,” the researchers said. They noted that perhaps because of the tenderness of age or ownership of a device, more of the 4-10 years-old children than their 11-16 years-old compatriots enjoy parental moderation of their Internet consumption with 94 per cent enjoying mediation in one form or the other ranging from time limits to restriction of access,” the report said.

The NCC’s research findings were buttressed by the 2020 Child Online Safety Index report, which ranked Nigerian children sixth globally in disordered use of technology. The country came behind countries such as Oman, which is rated number one in children misuse of technology, followed by the United Kingdom (2nd), Uruguay (3rd), Philippines (4th), and Thailand (5th).

The rating is based on four indices – the severity of gaming disorder symptoms; the percentage of children at risk of gaming disorder; the severity of social media disorder symptoms; and, the percentage of children at risk for social media disorder. According to the report, digital technology addictions manifest in different forms including excessive viewing of video clips, compulsive video game playing, and uncontrolled browsing and chatting on social media. Disordered use of technology arises when an individual engages in online activities at the cost of fulfilling daily responsibilities or pursuing other interests and without regard for the negative consequences.

(New Telegraph)

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