Executive Director for Child Rights International, Bright Kweku Appiah has cautioned against the unlawful interference in childrens’ privacy by older persons, in accordance with Article 16 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
Mr. Appiah, speaking at the fourth edition of the Child Protection Accountability Series held in Accra, condemned previous instances where such intrusions have greatly affected the youngsters involved.
He cited one such instance where nude photos of some Junior High School students were circulated by some older University Students, an act that warranted their arrest by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).
He also condemned the recent trend where children are filmed by their teachers when they are unable to do as expected in classrooms, and or encouraged to use profane words or engage in illicit sexual activities, and the videos disseminated on social media.
According to him, such acts, moving forward will be traced to the perpetrators and the appropriate penalties be meted out accordingly.
‘’In our commitment to promote and protect the inherent dignity of every child, we will not hesitate to sue any individual or organization that initiates or distributes any images of children intentionally in order to mock them,” he reiterated
Mr. Appiah warned teachers and parents to be mindful of the type of information they disseminate particularly on children since it has the tendency to ridicule the child’s vulnerability and affect their developmental cycle.
He also charged the National Communications Authority and police service to assist in tracking down the sources and distribution of such videos and additionally, asked parents to take keen interest in the sort of information their children access on social media.
