Minister Urges Parents to Monitor Kids' Phones to Prevent Child Abuse
Jakarta. The minister for women's empowerment and child protection has called on parents to snoop on their teenaged children's mobile phones to avoid their exposure to pornography.
"Let me remind all parents to look after and protect their kids … I also want to urge cellphone control, especially when the child is entering junior and senior high schools," Minister Yohana Yembise said on Sunday, as quoted by local news portal Republika.com.
Yohana added that parents should monitor website history on their children's cellphones as the wired world can potentially expose kids to sexual abuse, such as online prostitution.
Noting that there were more than 3,500 child assault cases between 2013 and 2014 lodged across the archipelago, the minister said parental monitoring could reduce sexual abuse involving children.
The Indonesian government has since 2004 blocked access to more than 800,000 porn sites, according to the Communication and Information Technology Ministry.
In May, Yohana announced that the government was drafting a set of rules to prohibit elementary school students using cellphones and to limit junior and senior high school students' access to mobile phones.
Tags: Keywords: