KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 28 ― Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has called on parents to take an interest in terms such as sexting and cybersex grooming which are serious social ills that could happen to their children with uncontrolled internet and smart phone usage.

The Deputy Prime Minister said even though there are benefits from accessing the internet, there are also negative effects if its usage is not supervised.

"This includes pornography, dark web as well as social media where users are out to take advantage of children.

"Our responsibility as parents included monitoring internet and mobile phone usage by our children,” said Dr Wan Azizah who is Pandan MP when speaking at a Back to School programme organised by her service centre here today.

In the programme, 300 primary schoolchildren received school bags, shoes, socks and stationery.

Each student also received RM20 savings if they open an SSPN account today which would be topped up by another RM100 as contribution by National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN).

Meanwhile, Dr Wan Azizah said the government had also implemented various programmes including the Children and Family Safety Awareness programme in which parents are provided with knowledge on the ways to protect their children from cyber bully, sexting and online children grooming.

Through the programme which had been held for 335 times since it was launched in 2017, Dr Wan Azizah who is also Women, Family and Community Development Minister said 11,282 participants nationwide had benefited from the programme as at Dec 12.

She said the government has also launched the ‘ Safe Touch and Bad Touch’  sex education video and the Family Reject Pornography (STOP) campaign apart from implementing Reproductive and Social Health Education (PEKERTI) module which is a key component of the the Sexual and Health Reproductive Education programme.

She also said statistics revealed by Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad on electronic cigarette or vape showed about 300,000 school students throughout the country are hooked on vape with 50,000 of them comprising school girls. ― Bernama