HOLIDAY SEASON
The largest consumer of Internet pornography is the 12 - 17-year-old age group

By Arthur Baguma

KATUSIIME’s 10-year-old son wakes up early before she leaves for work to make sure that his mother does not leave home without giving him sh1,000 to borrow movies from the nearby video library.

At first, the mother of two thought this was okay since the child would get cartoon movies to keep him busy instead of wandering in the neighbourhood, but she was mistaken.

Recently, she came back home unexpectedly, only to find her son locked up in a room watching adult movies.

Joshua Musiime, a parent, says Katusiime’s experience is familiar in many homes, yet parents never get to know. Musiime says the number of young victims of pornography is growing fast with the increase in technological advancements.

Experts warn that as children return home to enjoy their holidays, parents should be on the look out for what their children do when they are not at home.

Musiime notes that most of the video libraries in the suburbs do not take caution of what movies they lend out and to which people.

“Even if it is a child, they will not question why a child would be interested in adult movies,” Musiime explains.

The video library operators are only interested in making money. “As long as the child has the money to pay, they will give them whatever they ask for,” laments Fred Kigozi, a parent from Kisaasi, a Kampala suburb.

Ruth Senyonyi, a counselling psychologist working with Bank of Uganda, says parents can control what is in their homes and restrict children from going to places where they may be exposed to harmful things.

She advises those who have Internet at home to put the computer in a place where they can easily see what the child is doing.

Ssenyonyi also advises parents against putting TV sets or computers in children’s bedrooms.

“Late in the night when you are asleep, they can watch anything they want without your knowledge,” Ssenyonyi notes.

Some parents, out of affection, buy computers and TV sets and put them in their children’s bedrooms. Vincent Mukasa, a father of four, says this is a big mistake that parents never realise.

“They should keep the computer or TV in an open place in the house.” He says. “And when you are away from home, you can lock up all the electronic gadgets in your room.”

Education experts advise parents who work to always leave the children in the care of a trusted adult at home, or send someone to check on them during the course of the day.

However, Senyonyi notes that the most important aspect is to make time for the children. “Parents should always make time to play with their children and engage with them in positive pass time activities,” says Senyonyi.

Child experts say it is naive for parents to just hope their children will not look out for, or even stumble into pornography. The information superhighway, they say, is littered with porn and pornographers are always on the hunt for new victims.

Magazines and newspapers are littered at every street corner and shops. Uganda has a law on pornography but this has largely remained on paper with little implementation and enforcement.

“Enforcement of the pornography law is selective and the Police have not done much to ensure the culprits are netted,” observes an anti-pornography activist.

In Uganda, statistics on child pornography are scanty and the magnitude of child pornography is not known, but the vice is thriving. In the US, nine out of 10 children aged between the ages of eight and 16, have viewed pornography on the Internet, in most cases unintentionally, according to the London School of Economics.

The average age of first Internet exposure to pornography is 11 years. The largest consumer of Internet pornography is the 12 – 17-year-old age group. The youth with significant exposure to sexuality in the media were shown to be significantly more likely to have had intercourse between the ages of 14 and 16.

Experts add that children are getting more computer savvy all the time, so parents need to stay vigilant to keep up.

For children, the Internet is not just for fun. It is fast becoming an indispensable tool for learning and socialising.

Unfortunately, it can also be a haven for pervasive content. It is important to keep your children away from this.