CPN tasks broadcast stations on appropriate children programmes

The Lagos State Coordinator, Child Protection Network (CPN), Aderonke Oyelakin, has urged local broadcast stations to develop appropriate content for children and censor programmes that could mislead them into vices.

Oyelakin stated this at a special workshop on children programmes organised by the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission in Lagos. She also warned parents to shield their children from scenes of violence in movies and video games, full or partial nudity, vulgar scenes, depiction of criminal behaviour and underage drinking.

The workshop, which held with the theme, ‘Content Inclusiveness in Digital Era’, x-rayed the low rate of children programmes on local television stations.

According to NBC’s Director of Broadcast Monitoring, Franka Aiyetan, despite the policy mandating each station to allocate 10 per cent of resources to children programmes, only two per cent of them do so.

Oyelakin noted that in a world where children are vulnerable to different kinds of risks and threats on a daily basis, the media has been accused of exposing kids to graphical violence and explicit sexual content that often leads to aggressive behaviour and increases the chance of kids becoming sexually active at a young age.

She noted that this was where the role of censorship in public broadcasting comes in.

She added: “In the society today, our children and youths are being exposed to things beyond their capacity and the social media is playing a greater role in the lives of young people, more than stories and books. This calls for the need to give proper attention to the idea of censoring content.

“We must understand the reason we should censor social media amongst other inappropriate movies – to protect the minds, the innocence and purity of our children.

“Being a child protector, I and my colleagues have come across several innocent children attracted by social media and movies and are tricked into unsafe situations that have lead to kidnappings, cyber bullying, sex predators, unhealthy relationships and even death. Additionally, some images posted or videos online can negatively affect a child.”