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| Panel discussion hosted by American Corner (Amcor). (Photo: Zaki PR UMM) |
Not only small children, but online grooming can also take its toll on young children. This was revealed by Ciput Eka Purwianti, Assistant Deputy for Child Protection and Violence Indonesia in a panel discussion organized by the American Corner (Amcor) University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM). The agenda, which will be held at the end of November 2022, will also engage The U.S. Embassy's American Cultural Center Jakarta.
Ciput continued, child grooming is an effort made by someone to build trust and emotional connection with a child or teenager. So that they can manipulate, exploit and harass related parties. Actors grooming (groomer) can be from anyone because they disguise their identity when approaching the victim.
According to him, online grooming has increased since the pandemic. From the results of a survey conducted by the Ciput and ECPAT teams, social media users among children increased by 80%. Most of them use it as a venue for existence, venting online, and other. especially with the lack of literacy in using social media from an early age.
“Children easily share personal things such as phone numbers on their social media accounts. In fact, this makes it easy for groomers to target these children," he warned.
Meanwhile, Rio Hendra, Head of ECPAT Indonesia's Advocacy Division shared information about the dangers of online child grooming. This is because it allows sexual contact with children. Prevention strategies that can be done by parents is to study the means of communication and information content offered by the internet.
Even by giving understanding to all family members not to respond or answer chats and emails from people they don't know. Parents can also emphasize to children and adolescents not to rush into planning a face-to-face meeting with someone they just met through an online platform.
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On the other hand, Hanna Tanjung, the Principal of PAUD Kamila believes that the formation of a child's personality is very important. This can be done through the media of songs that are applied in educational institutions. Besides that, it can also raise awareness or attention in monitoring children's activities.
Meanwhile, another speaker was also present, Yulianti Umrah, Executive Director of ALIT Foundation, who provided insights about protecting children from child grooming. This activity was also guided by Abigail Saveria, Founder of Girls Can Lead, and Ria Arista Asih, Director at America Corner (UMM) and was attended by dozens of UMM students. (cdr/zak/wil)
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