Speaking on the sidelines of a Children’s Day hospital outreach in Abuja, a trustee of the Kindest Care Foundation warns that unchecked screen time erodes child safety.
A member of the Board of Trustees of the Kindest Care Foundation (KCF), Mr. Abiodun Bamidele, has urged parents and guardians nationwide to take active responsibility for regulating their children’s access to the internet and social media platforms.
Bamidele made the passionate call on Thursday, May 28, 2026, in Abuja during interviews on the sidelines of the foundation’s special Children’s Day outreach. The humanitarian initiative focused on visiting and supporting pediatric cancer patients undergoing specialized treatments at regional medical facilities in the Federal Capital Territory.
Bamidele emphasized that character modeling and content filtering must begin at home, warning that unchecked exposure to unregulated online platforms poses severe risks to a child’s psychological development, emotional health, and overall wellbeing.
While acknowledging that internet connectivity is a valuable educational asset in the modern era, he stressed that introducing smartphones, laptops, and tablets to minors without strict guidance defeats the purpose of safe digital parenting.
The KCF trustee questioned the growing trend of parents handing over high-end communication gadgets to young children merely as tools for distraction, without monitoring the underlying virtual environment. He urged families to become deeply intentional regarding when, why, and how they grant minors access to digital spaces.
Bamidele argued that leaving child protection to outside social systems is a flawed approach, reinforcing that security must be managed straight from the living room.
“Parents have to be proactive and manage their children properly when giving them tablets or phones to use. Why are we giving them phones? Are we controlling what they are seeing on the internet? It needs to be regulated. It is something that has to be controlled from the home; we cannot control that from the street,” Bamidele argued.
Likening the rigorous process of child upbringing to a critical long-term investment, Bamidele noted that providing proper attention to a child’s health and values guarantees a secure future for both the family and the wider community.
He warned that unmonitored exposure to the internet can lead to cyberbullying, data privacy issues, and low self-esteem, which often disrupt a child’s psychological and educational growth. He concluded by calling for a national awareness campaign to equip parents in both urban and rural communities with the essential skills required for modern digital parenting and tracking child online safety.
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