Parents must recognize digital dangers
Print Edition
I WAS shocked when my daughter blocked me on WeChat and decided not to share her phone’s password with me.
According to the Pew Research Center: “About 90 percent of teens are using some form of social media and 75 percent have profiles on a social networking site. Social media has become an essential part of their lives, much the way telephones were important to us at their age.”
If we adults use these phones to take pictures and post them on Instagram and cannot live in the moment, rather than be desperate to post one; if we adults cannot resist sharing a questionable video or an inappropriate meme on WeChat Moments, if we adults lose our jobs due to our previous posts on Facebook and Twitter, if we adults hurt our 70-year-old parents’ feeling by sharing our religious views; what could a teenager do if they had unlimited freedom on the Internet and no clue about the consequences of a digital footprint?
The results could be disastrous.
Some dangers are addiction, negative modelling, abduction, blackmailing and bullying.
As a parent, monitoring and controlling your child’s digital use and interactions is crucial. There are a number of ways to do this, like checking websites and text messages, using parental controls for blocking or filtering, restricting the usage of screen and digitally grounding them. However, the best way for a parent is to have a proactive approach to preventing problems by speaking with their teen about what constitutes acceptable and unacceptable online behavior. Open communication is critical since fear of punishment can lead to isolation or aggressive behavior.
When it comes to online safety, social media has its own unique set of problems for teenagers … and it can go far beyond the online horror stories. That’s why it’s important as a parent to be involved with your teens’ use of social media.
As a teacher, we are also responsible. Schools especially with their ICT teachers must be teaching our kids social media accountability and responsibility. Teachers should be well equipped to teach our kids about privacy, sexting and cyberbullying. If we are savvy enough to know these online problems, we can help and protect our kids better.
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