Child protection hotline launch ‘Step in their Shoes’ educational awareness campaign
"Our aim is to educate the youth about how easily they get lured into a false sense of security when it comes to their online activities."
A new project by the Moot child protection hotline wants to educate children on the dangers of online activity and social media.
Step in Their Shoes project will feature various events about child abuse and gender-based violence.
It will conclude on December 10.
Last week, Danie van Loggerenberg of the hotline, as well as Captain Anton Breedt of Moot police station and Warrant Officer Melani Smit of the Moot FCS, visited Die Eike Learning Solutions in Villieria.
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The educational programme includes outlining what the dangers of online activities and social media are, how to avoid them and what the consequences are for getting involved in illegal activities.
“With the continuous exposure children have to the internet and other online activities, it is crucial to visit one of the lesser-known schools in the area to discuss the dangers lurking on the web,” said Van Loggerenberg.
He explained the implications of cyberbullying, as well as clicking on unknown email links and websites. The dangers were outlined as well as the information that criminals try to retrieve and how they exploit it.
Smit explained the different social media platforms as well as fake platforms that resemble the more well-known social media platforms.
“These platforms are disguised to lure teenagers into a dark world of requests for teenage rape and sex as well as pornographic photos,” she said.
Breedt explained the implications of having child pornography and the distribution of child pornography.
“We aim to educate the youth about how easily they get lured into a false sense of security when it comes to their online activities, including what they see as innocent conversations and the sharing of photos on WhatsApp.
“Our children seem very uneducated when it comes to their rights and their voice when we talk about child protection,” Van Loggerenberg said.
“Children sign up on sites that invite them to watch horrendous visuals. We recently saw that Gauteng had more than 23 000 teenage pregnancies during the lockdown and sexual activity is becoming a norm at a younger age yearly.
“Unfortunately, we can only go as far and offer help as to educate our children about the dangers,” he said.
He added that they were inundated with parents calling them about their teenagers being drunk weekly, their teenagers being sexually active and teenagers getting pregnant.
“We recently helped a grandmother to approach the court to successfully apply for guardianship with regards to her newly born granddaughter. Her teenage daughter was neglecting the newborn and had no way to care for the child.
“This is just one of many cases we are attending to. This is why we want to visit schools regularly to educate them and assist in whichever way we can.
“We want to invite the community to contact the hotline on 064 604 9254 or email report@childprotectionhotline.co.za if there are any concerns around their children,” he said.
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