In its report released January 27, UNICEF warned that children are at high risk of becoming the target of cybercriminals. Child sexual exploitation and abuse online is the fastest-growing form of violence targeting children.

UNICEF warned that in addition to the benefits that cyberspace can bring, children may face many risks if they are not equipped with the skills to protect themselves.

Ha Thai Hang, a parent from Nam Tu Liem district, decided to enroll her six year old son in an online class of English. Since Hang and her husband have to work in the evening, they don’t have time to supervise the boy’s timetable and they were astonished when discovering that their son had committed violent behavior such as striking his friends and tearing up notebooks when he was angry.

After a short time of accompanying the son, Hang discovered that the boy, after school hours, usually accessed the black web, where adults are ready to fight, or even commit objectionable actions.

“I decided to seize the internet access device and stop his online learning, because in the immediate time I still have not found a better solution,” she said.

Tran Trung Kien, a parent from Ha Dong district in Hanoi, said studying English online is a good solution as his son’s English improved considerably just after two months of learning. He encourages the boy to work on the internet. However, he admitted that "there are many traps on the cyberspace".

“It is highly possible that my son, because of curiosity, will open websites with profane content. Local newspapers have also repeatedly warned of the risks of children becoming victims of online attacks,” he said.

Dinh Thi Nhu Hoa from the Vietnam Cybersecurity Emergency Response Teams/Coordination Center (VNCERT/CC) said that children at different ages need to be equipped with the skills to protect themselves when joining cyberspace.

Parents need to remind their children to be cautious when sharing personal information on social networks and seek advice from parents and teachers when they need support.

Experts have voiced concern over child bullying and school violence incidents originating from social networks that have occurred recently. 

The biggest problem was that parents did not know about these cases and could not make timely interventions. As a result, children were severely hurt and became victims of school violence.

Hoa said to encourage children to have healthy interactions and to become creative in cyberspace, parents can use protection technologies available on Windows, iOS and Android operating systems, or on browsers and apps.

Hoang Thanh