Prime Minister Andrew Holness is urging parents to be vigilant in monitoring their children’s use of gadgets and social media platforms, to reduce toxic stress and anxiety among them.

Toxic stress occurs when a child experiences strong, frequent, or prolonged adversity without adequate adult support and the Prime Minister believes it is critical that parents and guardians make themselves aware and take action.

While speaking on Thursday, during the official handing over ceremony of the Child Protection and Family Service Agency’s Therapeutic Centre at the Maxfield Park Children’s Home in St. Andrew, Prime Minister Holness cited that uncensored and unmonitored internet usage can have serious effects on a child’s mental state.

This comes as the Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC) says “Children have been accessing social media even though it was designed originally for adults with the age requirement being lowered over the years” which calls for parents to step in and monitor.

It added that parental control software is also suggested as one way to monitor the devices used by children.

A few recommended controlled apps are Qustodio, Google Family Link, Norton Family, Safe Kids, and Kaftersky Safe Kids.

They are among the applications recommended that parents use to increase safety and limit exposure to dangerous persons or software.