The Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA) has advocated the integration of digital literacy into school curricula from an early age to protect children from online abuse and exploitation.
Ms Seyi Onasanya, Chief Operating Officer of NiRA, said this on Wednesday in an interview with reporters in Abuja.
She described digital literacy as a necessity rather than an option, urging stakeholders to take urgent action to ensure children understood the risks associated with using digital devices and online platforms.
Onasanya said protecting children in the digital space required collective efforts from parents, teachers, schools, policymakers and other stakeholders.
She said NiRA had established the Ndukwe Kalu Foundation (NKF), a special-purpose vehicle of the association, to support child online safety, protection and the reporting of abuse.
According to her, education and awareness were central to achieving this goal because children needed to understand the dangers associated with online activities, while parents and teachers also needed the knowledge to guide and protect them.
Onasanya emphasised the need to empower teachers, saying they could educate children effectively on digital safety only if they were adequately equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills.
She said that although artificial intelligence (AI) tools could help teachers develop quality lesson plans, such technologies also posed risks that children needed to understand.
According to her, online platforms and digital tools could be exploited for child kidnapping, trafficking, sextortion and other forms of abuse, with consequences for children’s psychological and emotional well-being and that of their families.
She urged stakeholders to develop policies and regulations to strengthen child online protection, support schools and establish clear channels through which children and school authorities could report abuse.
On when digital literacy should be introduced to children, Onasanya said safety education should begin as soon as they started using digital devices, including phones and tablets for cartoons and learning resources.
She illustrated the need for early guidance with an account of a three-year-old child who reportedly identified Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant, as a friend.
The incident, she said, highlighted how young children could develop relationships with digital tools without fully understanding their nature, making early parental guidance and awareness essential.
Onasanya said NKF had made digital literacy a key objective and was already implementing capacity-building programmes for teachers and school management personnel to improve their understanding of digital safety.
She called for urgent national action, warning that protecting children from physical threats alone was no longer sufficient in an increasingly connected world.
“Digital literacy is a must. It is not a nice-to-have for our curriculum and our schools,” she said.
Onasanya urged stakeholders to move beyond repeated discussions and take practical steps to protect children from online dangers, stressing that their safety was critical to securing their future.
