Online Reporter
Lucia Ponde Mutsvedu
Correspondent
Thorn and Benenson Strategy group (2022) define online grooming as the intentional use of the internet to manipulate and or coerce someone into participating in sexually explicit interactions or exchanges.
Usually, this is in form of strangers who fake emotional relationships with children so as to gain their trust before sexually exploiting them. With the pace the technology is moving at, many young people now have access to digital gadgets such as cellphones and tablets where they interact with the outside world across borders.
Children can meet strangers with fake identity at social media or gaming platforms and request for sexually explicit pictures of the child.
To the child, this is just one person who cares about them and is there for them through thin and thick. Wefers et, al (2024) are of the view that this vulnerability has been growing in recent years and was escalate by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
The warning signs that a child could be going through online grooming include pornographic content in the child’s device, sexual content on Google searches, secrecy of their social media and the child spending too much time online.
This is a wake up call for parents not to shy away from this conversation, but rather, to become strong and face the bull by its horn and tackle this issue once and for all.
A wise parent will sit down with the child and explain to them the risks associated with online grooming and how its going to affect them psychologically and emotionally.
This prepares the child for such incidents should they come across them online and they would know steps to take in such scenarios.
One of the reasons why online predators choose children as their victims is because children are naïve thereby very easy to manipulate and get away with their information including nude pictures.
The online grooming behaviour may then be related to other harmful or risky online behaviours, including the use of child sexual abuse material. Risk factors for additional illegal online behaviours may be problematic internet use (Morgan & Lambie, 2019) and a sexual interest in children (Seto et al, 2006).
Artificial intelligence chatbots appear promising in helping to disrupt the use of child sexual exploitation material (Prichard, Scanlan, et al, 2022).
This is a positive move and ensures that a child grows up the right way and is not exposed to harmful content.
Should any parent or guardian find out or assume that their child has been a victim of online grooming they should consider reporting the matter to the law enforcement agencies and reassure the child that it is not their fault to find themselves in such a situation.
For instance there are countries like China where some applications are not allowed to be used by children in this case, TikTok. It has been found that children may fail to make informed decisions and being on platforms like TikTok exposes them to adult content and makes them more vulnerable.
A parent who is after the goodness of their child should be able to monitor their child’s online activities, warn them about the risks associated with using the internet and ensure that the child is fully aware of the consequences.
Platforms, including messaging services, must continue to improve and prioritize reporting functionality and their ability to respond quickly. Reliable reporting pipelines offer the most basic level of protection for users.
To ensure we have an empowered generation of children, the gospel of online safety should be preached everywhere, in churches, schools, home and recreational places so that children always exercise caution and stay safe online.
Lucia Ponde Mutsvedu is the director of Safety n Us
