Nghe An directs to strengthen child protection in the online environment

Helpless when children "abuse" social networks

For many months now, Nguyen Thu Hang (38 years old, living in Vinh City) and her husband have had to do everything possible to prevent their son, who is in 8th grade, from accessing social networks. “If I confiscate his phone, he will turn on his computer. If I lock his computer at home, he will go to his friend’s house. We have tried everything possible to stop him, but it still doesn’t work,” Hang sighed.

Ms. Hang's son used to be an excellent student for many years. Two years ago, when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, the school had to study online. She and her husband also bought their son a smartphone to study online. But from then on, the virtual world began to attract the child who was at the age of discovery. "From then on, he was glued to his phone all day. From an excellent student, his academic performance gradually declined seriously," Ms. Hang said. Not only did it affect his academic performance, what worried Ms. Hang and her husband the most was that their son often went on social networks to watch "online gangsters" livestreams, body-showing websites, and learned vulgar words...

The concerns of Ms. Hang and her husband are also common to many parents today. According to a 3-month survey by the Department of Children - Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, 89% of children access and use the Internet, of which 87% use it daily. On average, children spend 5-7 hours a day online. However, only 36% of children are educated about ensuring safety on the Internet.

Students study online during the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo: MH

Technology is increasingly developing, the online environment is a huge information store, a world of knowledge without borders and brings many positive aspects to life. However, the online environment still has potential risks and negative impacts on children, such as accessing fake information, accessing bad and toxic content, being abused online, being addicted to using social networks... Or causing many children to suffer from internet addiction, online game addiction, smartphone addiction. Then children are exploited and threatened on the internet environment. Children also have their private life secrets revealed online.

In particular, in the mountainous districts of Nghe An, in recent years, social networks have been a tool for human traffickers to approach and lure victims. Most of them are children from ethnic minorities. Many children have been tricked and sold to China, tricked into doing hard labor at gold mines in Quang Nam through social networks.

In addition, the explosion of digital technology has also increased child sexual abuse and commercial sexual exploitation. Children are lured and forced to participate in exposing their bodies and performing sexual acts online. Images of child sexual abuse are sold to third parties.

Meanwhile, the general public's understanding of the internet environment is still limited. Schools only teach IT skills, not how to protect themselves in the internet environment. Children mostly learn by themselves or learn from their friends how to use the internet. As for parents, many of whom are not knowledgeable about IT, they are almost helpless in the face of their children's internet use.

Focus on equipping children with knowledge

Recently, the People's Committee of Nghe An province issued a plan to "Protect and support children to interact healthily and creatively in the online environment". This plan aims to contribute to raising awareness and responsibility of Party committees, authorities and people in protecting and supporting children to interact healthily and creatively in the online environment.

The goal of this plan is to protect private information and personal secrets when children access information and participate in activities on the Internet; prevent and handle acts of taking advantage of the Internet to perform prohibited acts against children in any form according to the provisions of law. Equip children with digital knowledge and skills according to their age to know how to protect themselves and how to interact safely on the Internet, including: using the Internet in a healthy and safe way; self-protection when participating in interactions on the Internet and how to identify, report, and denounce acts and cases of child abuse on the Internet. Communicate to the whole society, focusing on parents, teachers, and caregivers about knowledge and skills to support and guide children to interact safely, healthily, and creatively on the Internet.

Two 15-year-old girls in Ky Son were rescued after being tricked into working at a gold mine in Quang Nam through social media. Photo: Tien Hung

At the same time, proactively implement solutions to prevent and detect acts of child abuse on the Internet; ensure necessary conditions for children to participate safely and healthily on the Internet and have appropriate support solutions to help children recover when negatively impacted by the Internet. Contribute to the formation and popularization of an ecosystem of Vietnamese products and applications on the Internet to meet the learning and entertainment needs of children on the Internet.

Nghe An province also set a specific goal that 100% of primary, secondary and high schools and child protection and care facilities in the province will periodically organize propaganda programs, educating children on necessary knowledge and skills to participate in a safe online environment. 100% of children who are victims of online abuse will be supported and intervened upon request from the children themselves or from relatives and the community. 100% of organizations and individuals who are reported or found to have violated the law on children in the online environment will be handled according to the law.

In the coming time, Nghe An will increase the display on the provincial television channel (NTV), through the basic information system of the hotline number of the National Child Protection Hotline (number 111) and the phone number 1800.599.963 of the Nghe An Provincial Social Work Center. This is the channel to receive information on child abuse reports. At the same time, it will communicate to the whole society, focusing on the subjects of fathers, mothers, teachers, and caregivers about knowledge, support skills, protection skills, and guidance for children to interact safely, healthily, and creatively in the online environment.

In addition, the educational program will incorporate knowledge and awareness raising about the online environment for children, basic skills when using the Internet, and ways to seek support when being abused online; promote forms of counseling and support for children through school counseling. Strive in each school year, at all levels, to arrange at least one extracurricular session to equip children with knowledge and awareness about the online environment and basic skills when using the Internet. Train and improve professional skills and propaganda skills for reporters and teachers of schools to carry out propaganda work on information and communication technology, the Internet and social networks.

Nghe An also encourages and calls on digital technology, digital content, and digital media businesses to develop applications and content that help children interact healthily and creatively in the online environment; providing electronic game services in the online environment must have tools to control time, protect children from abuse and addiction to electronic games; warn or remove information and services that are harmful to children, fake service information, and distortions that infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of children.

In addition, to strengthen the protection of children in the online environment, the Provincial People's Committee has assigned specific tasks to each local department and branch. In particular, the Provincial Police is responsible for directing professional forces to deploy measures to prevent, detect, stop, and strictly handle acts of using the online environment to abuse children. Do a good job of receiving and handling denunciations and reports on acts of using the online environment to abuse children; coordinate with the Provincial People's Procuracy and the Provincial People's Court to investigate, prosecute, and strictly handle acts of child abuse related to the online environment.