In terms of mobile phone internet traffic, Kenya leads the world having recently risen to topple Nigeria on the global stage. It is no wonder then that Kenyans view smartphones as being most likely to subject children to harmful media content ahead of the likes of television and radio.
Around 62.6 percent of respondents to a recent survey by the Kenya Film and Classification Board (KFCB) said the social media applications available to children on smartphones risk corrupting the morals of future generations if young ones are not monitored.
“If not monitored children can visit harmful sites and in the long run they can be mentally and morally corrupted,” the KFCB survey says.
The figure is overwhelmingly above that of TV, for which 29.8 percent of respondents attributed to causing moral decay, with a further 7.6 percent saying children are exposed to harmful content most via radio.
The recently released KFCB survey also places the burden of inculcating good moral values among children on parents, teachers, children themselves and the government. According to the survey by the film regulator, ” In particular, 92.1 percent mentioned parents, 50.3 percent mentioned teachers, 20.2 percent mentioned children themselves and 17.9 percent mentioned the State.”
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Among those who took the survey, TV is the most frequently used form of mass media in Kenyan households at 80.5 percent, with local programming dominating the four major television networks in terms of viewership.
At 64 percent, local programmes rank above news (20 percent) as most watched content on local TV, with soap operas (13 percent), games and sports (3 percent) and cartoons (1 percent) sharing viewership albeit at lower percentages.
Local comedy is the toast of town with programmes such as long running court drama Vioja Mahakamani and popular stand-up comedy cum interview talk show Chruchill also ruling the roost.
“On Citizen TV, majority of the respondents mentioned that their favorite programme is Machachari
while on NTV majority mentioned Churchill show. On KTN, majority mentioned that their favorite
programme is Mshamba while on KBC, majority of the respondents mentioned Vioja Mahakamani,” KFCB’s survey reports.
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