Children cautioned to be mindful of social media posts

Chief Inspector Michael Akuffo, the Administrator for the Accra Regional Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), has cautioned children to be mindful of what they post on social media to avert being kidnapped and abused.

He said most kidnappers tracked their would-be victims through social media to solicit information about them before they struck.

Chief Inspector Akuffo gave the advice during a panel discussion on promoting and protection of the rights of children in Ghana and beyond.

The programme, which was organized by Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF) Ghana, a Pan-African women’s right organisation, formed part of activities to commemorate this year’s International Day of the African Child which was celebrated on June 16.

It was also aimed at re-engaging the children on their rights and to also solicit stakeholders’ views on what they were doing to ensure that the rights of children were protected.

The programme was attended by officials from DOVVSU of the Ghana Police Service, the Department of Children of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, the Department of Social Welfare, pupils, aged 10-16 from five selected basic schools in the Greater Accra region, among others.

Chief Inspector Akuffo bemoaned the attitude of children posting pictures of themselves, that of their parents and their names, among others on social media.

“I, therefore, plead with them to desist from putting such information out there since that can give kidnappers enough details to carry out their mission”.

He also urged them to take extra precautions by taking note of the number plate of cars they boarded, avoid asking for lift, especially from people they knew little about.

He further encouraged the children to report any case of abuse to the appropriate authorities immediately irrespective of whom the perpetrator was in order to fast track the delivery of justice.

Mr Sefah Alexander Boadu, the Greater Accra Regional Director of the Department of Children said the department had put in place several policies to ensure that children’s rights were respected and protected.

He noted that some parents out of ignorance abused their children.

“We have therefore initiated policies such as the Child and Family Welfare Policy and the Justice for Children Policy in order to curb this menace.

Those two policies do not look at the child in isolation but also try to involve their families, as well as the communities they live in because child protection is a collective responsibility.”.

“A lot of abuses on children are perpetrated by parents who may do it out of ignorance. We, therefore, embark on sensitization programmes to educate the parents on the rights of the children in order to ensure that they understood the difference between correcting and abusing the child”, he added.

Ms Abigail Edem Hunu, Coordinator for the Girls Empowerment Project of WILDAF Ghana also stated that children were one of the most abused groups of people in society, majority of whom had little or no knowledge about their rights.

She said to minimise these children must be empowered to understand what constitutes abuse and to also know what to do when they found themselves in abusive situations.

Ms Hunu further called on stakeholders; specifically the Ghana Education Service (GES) to ensure that corporal punishment was totally eliminated from all schools across the country in order to protect the rights of the children.

“There are lots of punishments which can be meted out to the children other than caning, which physically is an abuse of the right of the child”, she said.

This year’s International Day of the African Child was on the theme “Humanitarian Action in Africa, Children’s Right First’.