Parents Need Help Protecting Children From Online Dangers

PETALING JAYA, Jan 17 (Bernama) -- Concerns over the safety of children in the digital world are increasingly troubling parents, especially as internet use has become part of daily routines at home.

Many parents admit that it is difficult to fully monitor their children’s use of gadgets, especially their uncontrolled exposure to harmful, inappropriate content and online scams, particularly when both parents are working.

A nurse, Siti Noormaliana Rashid, 39, said the anxiety intensifies every time she leaves her children at home to report for duty at the hospital.

“When we work and have to leave them, we cannot monitor their phones all the time, and we don’t know what they are watching,” she said.

For financial officer Siti Salwa Zakaria, 39, the concern is even greater as the internet has become an indispensable tool for children’s learning.

“Children use the internet to do their homework. Now classes even have their own WhatsApp groups, so if we cut off the internet, they won’t be able to access the information they need,” she said.

However, as a mother of four children under 16, she believes parents must accept the reality of the digital world while teaching children to distinguish between the benefits and risks of the internet.

A different approach is taken by local authority officer Ramesh Rajan, 41, who imposes stricter internet control at home.

His children, aged between six and 14, share a single mobile phone without internet access and are only allowed to use other devices with internet under supervision.

“If they need the internet, they will use my wife’s phone under supervision. I am worried they might accidentally access inappropriate content or fall prey to scams,” he said.

However, Ramesh admitted that despite various control measures, exposure to inappropriate content is difficult to avoid, especially when children interact outside the home or with their peers.

These concerns are supported by data from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), which recorded over 1,400 posts involving child sexual abuse materials removed from January to September last year.

Studies by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Interpol also found that 91 per cent of Malaysian children aged 13 to 17 use the internet daily, with 70 per cent exposed to harmful content.

In this context, the Online Safety and Awareness Act 2025 (ONSA), which came into effect on Jan 1, is expected to help parents understand internet risks, strengthen digital safety controls and guide them in fostering safer digital habits for their children.

-- BERNAMA