There is little doubt that the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is affecting every aspect of our lives – from virtual classrooms to domestic violence, outright quarantines, etc. While countries are at different points in their COVID-19 infection rates, worldwide there are currently more than 1.2 billion children in 186 countries affected by school closures. As a result, education has changed dramatically, with the distinctive rise of e-learning, whereby teaching is undertaken remotely and on digital platforms.
According to (UNICEF), students are at increased risk of harm online because many of them are now taking classes online as well as socializing more online. Spending more time on virtual platforms can however leave children vulnerable to online sexual exploitation and grooming, as predators look to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic. A lack of face-to-face contact with friends and partners may lead to heightened risk-taking such as sending sexualized images, while increased and unstructured time online may expose children to potentially harmful and violent content as well as greater risk of cyberbullying. Research also suggests that online learning has been shown to increase retention of information, and take less time, meaning the changes coronavirus have caused might be here to stay.
Against this background, the Ovie Brume Foundation in partnership with Youth Empowerment Foundation and the Barack Obama American Corner held a webinar titled “Child Online Safety in the Era of E-Learning” on the 21st of May 2020. The session was moderated by Adeola Potts-Johnson, Head of Programs, Ovie Brume Foundation, and the speakers were Foluke Omoworare a UNICEF Consultant and Coordinator of Spotlight Initiative and Olamide Thompson-Odeneye, Convener, Child Online Safety NG. 90 people participated in the virtual class. Adeola Potts-Johnson welcomed participants and shared the objective of the webinar. This was followed by the introduction of the first speaker, Mrs. Foluke Omoworare.
