The Internet and the digital environment have allowed young people to connect with their friends faster since they no longer necessarily need to meet in person. The phenomenon of social networks has been growing since before the pandemic at an ever faster pace. Today they are accessed at increasingly younger ages.
Of course, you can always learn how to open a snap without them knowing to feel you can protect your kid and prevent any harm. But the best way to ensure the safety of minors in the digital world is to first learn about the dangers involved and have a deep conversation with them.
It’s evident that if they expose their personal information, there is an immediate loss of privacy. Your kids must understand that sharing intimate details of their lives can lead to someone else impersonating them by using their photographs to create a fake profile. But an adult can also impersonate someone their age and manipulate them to send intimate content to blackmail them.
What you should pay attention to
If you want your children to use the technology wisely, below, we provide a list of the best ways for them to benefit from the progress safely.
Minimum age for use
It is crucial to explain to children that one of the social network policies, if we take Facebook, for example, is that it only admits those over 13 years of age. This indicates that it is not advisable to use it if you are under this age.
Children’s content on social networks
Famous people have been claiming that children should not use social networks. Some studies, such as that of the University of Sheffield, state that the more time they spend on social networks, the more likely they are to be victims of bullying since the networks amplify the problems of offline life.
However, today about 12% of 9-10 years old children have a profile on social networks, and the percentage rises to 75% when it comes to 13 and 14 years old kids.
You can not stop this tendency, but you can constantly monitor it and take some control over it. As safe as it may seem, it is essential to monitor what children do, so it is necessary to raise awareness in the family that parents need to know what happens when they connect to the network.
Parental supervision
One of the best ways to raise awareness is to teach them to think before they click. Any actions they take can lead to an inappropriate site, or they may download a virus that can infect every computer in your home. They can even make it easier for third parties to access valuable, sensitive, and private information.
On the other hand, we must be attentive to the content they consume: games, websites, applications, and the communities to which they belong.
Talking about the risks of sharing or posting information, images, or videos on social networks is vital.
Security tools are also available
Many popular browsers have security systems that help keep your family safe, but you can also use other innovative family and parental web security tools.
Robust software solutions help protect your computers from malicious sites, digital threats that can steal personal or financial information, and phishing attempts.
Long story short, the immersion of young people in new technologies is occurring at increasingly younger ages, and child safety becomes essential when it comes to social networks.
Therefore, since no one can avoid this, it will be the duty of parents and the educational community to help them to use them responsibly and appropriately so that they can take advantage of all their benefits.
