Kids and social media sites

Social media sites can be a dangerous place for kids and young teenagers. They can be dangerous because of sexual predators online and cyber bullying. In addition, these sites can be dangerous for children and teens because they tend to post inappropriate things that can haunt them later. Children and teens are more vulnerable to all of these dangers because they have never dealt with them before, and they don’t know what is happening or how to deal with it. This is where parents have to step in and make sure their kids know how to manage their profiles online safely and appropriately.

    I remember, as a teenager, my peers would post some cruel things about one another online. Kids from my high school would fight in comment boxes for hours at a time. It’s a lot easier for kids and teenagers to bully one another online because of the anonymity. According to “Internet Safety 101”, 41% of teens reported having a negative experience on social media. Similar to what we discussed in class, statistics on this website also stated that 25% of teens had a negative experience that led to face-to-face confrontation. 22% had an experience that ended their friendship with someone. 88% of teens reported having seen someone being mean to another person on a social networking site.

    Social networking sites are also dangerous places because of sexual predators. 29% of Internet sex crime relationships were initiated on a social networking site. Teens often include their real age, photos of themselves, where they live, school name and location, their cell phone number, and places they usually go on their social networking profiles. Surprisingly, plenty of young people have Facebook. In fact, 38% of Facebook users in the last year were under the age of 13, and more than 25% of Facebook users last year were under the age of 10. In addition to this, 62% of parents of teens ages 13-14 are actually "friends" with their child are Facebook, and a mere 18% of parents with children under 10 on Facebook are "friends" with their child on the site. This leaves plenty of opportunity for predators to reach the child without the parents noticing.

    On the “Empowering Parents” page of the site, they tell parents to teach their children to use privacy settings, avoid in-person meetings, be honest about their age, try to remember that people aren’t always who they say they are, and to think before they post. They also advise children to avoid inappropriate behavior and report it to the site if they encounter it. Hemanshu Nigam, Chief Security Officer says "One of the most important questions to ask that teens really understand is: 'Are you willing to share this information in front of your school assembly?’” All of this goes back to what we discussed in class. Adults and children have different ideas of privacy. Adults tend to think before they post, while children tend to post first and take the risk, then if a problem occurs they ask for help afterwards. This Internet Safety website suggests that all parents add their children as a friend so they can see what they’re doing. Once again, all of this goes back to what we talked about in class. It’s hard to determine, as a parent, where to draw the line on protecting your kids. However, it is the responsibility of the parents to watch what their children do online, since Facebook and other social media sites are not responsible for what people post. I think it's essential as a parent to be friends with your kids online so you can monitor what they’re posting, and whom they’re friends with, to make sure they’re not in any danger. If your child doesn’t want to be friends with you, however, it’s still important to warn them about the dangers of being online, so that when they do encounter danger, they will come talk to you. It’s also important to encourage your kids to talk to you if anyone says anything online that makes them uncomfortable, and encourage them to tell the school. In the “Cyberbullying Safety Tips” section, they say to look for signs that your child is being cyber bullied, like reluctance to use the computer or even refusing to go to school. As a parent you do have to respect your kids’ privacy, and you don’t want to cross the line, but there are many ways to protect your children from the dangers of social networking sites.