Covid-19: Play your role in keeping children safe

What you need to know:

As a result, they stray into pornographic material and other graphic materials where they learn undesirable manners. This compounds the problem.
The pandemic has also created an opportunity for communities to rethink the education system and what should be improved

The revelations in a report released by the Gender ministry showing that the government’s online learning programme has exposed children to sex materials, which has escalated incidences of incest, defilement and other sexual abuses in homes, especially against girls, points to serious effects and lapses following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The coordinator of the implementation unit at the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Ms Lydia Najjemba Wasula, said the outbreak of coronavirus in March found government unprepared and they are now on the drawing board trying to counter the emerging issues arising out of the crisis.

She noted that parents have failed to protect their vulnerable children at home during the lockdown following the closure of schools in March and government is now struggling to contain the rising incidences of teenage pregnancies, with increasing cases of sexual abuse. It was also revealed that some children are accessing and downloading materials which are inappropriate for their age.

The pandemic has disrupted learning and increased gender-based violence. E-learning has become handy during the lockdown to cater for continual education, however, the managing of what children access is challenging due to difficulty to control what materials learners access on their own. 

As a result, they stray into pornographic material and other graphic materials where they learn undesirable manners. This compounds the problem.
The pandemic has also created an opportunity for communities to rethink the education system and what should be improved.

This unforeseen onset of this pandemic has brought in sharp focus what parents, society, and government might have always taken for granted. Individuals and government had not thought through a lot of things in regard to, for instance, how children relate, how schools have been a safe haven for children and what ought to be done to ensure everything across board remains functioning.

However, this should not be an excuse for the parents and government not to provide as mandated. Parents should not abdicate their roles. Parenting is a full-time job and schools where the children spend most time cannot substitute the responsibilities of parents, guardians and government. Each of those stakeholders have a role to play as mandated by the law.

It is time now for parents to refocus and take their responsibilities more seriously so that we save this generation from descending into moral decadence and preserve their future.