How To Spare Teenagers from Menace of Social Media
Every time the word 'Social Media' comes into the picture, you can feel the adults in the room cringe as if it is a phrase in Satan's dictionary.
As teenagers, no one understands the concern of well-wishers/ parents, regarding the detrimental side-effects of social media on the life of kids in their prime teens.
Earlier, the only type of entertainment that was had was face to face, in movies, on dates, on the playground, etc.
The emergence of an entirely new virtual dimension over the last 15 years, is the primary focus here in the case of social media. This virtual dimension did away with 'transparency,' for good.
Social Media, is not a bad thing at all. It is in fact, one of the best contributions in today's world, as it facilitates so many things like high-speed communication, a comprehensive platform for sharing your thoughts, views, accomplishments, etc.
But on the downside, there are a plethora of disturbing aspects of social media, some of which have been discussed below.
1. Addiction
A teenager's level of addiction is ten times that of an adult's, as the young mind always looks for more and more opportunities to learn, and this can be quite a harmful quality in a dark place, such as the internet.
Teens these days, cannot take their eyes off their phones/gadgets as they are too busy texting or updating their statuses. This form of addiction ruins their family lives, their performance in school, their physical health and of course, mental health.
2. Cyber- Bullying:
Another significant spin-off of social media, is something which is very common these days, Cyber Bullying. Cyber bullying is defined as the act of harassing someone online by sending or posting mean messages, usually anonymously.
This degrades the self-image of thousands of teenagers, causing depression, suicidal instinct and the feeling that they're not 'good enough' to fit into the regular crowd.
Racist, body-shaming comments are often passed which target young teens which in causes their self-confidence to shatter.
3. Stalking and Abuse
A survey was taken among teenagers of ages 13-18, about stalking. 4/5 teen girls, admitted having had casual users stalk their profiles on Facebook and send them messages asking them if they wanted to see their genitals, or persuading them to show them theirs.
This is what is called virtual sex abuse, which occurs to 4/5 teenage girls using Social Media.
4. Child Pornography
More than 104 million child porn photos and videos are said to be uploaded on social media sites, as per the survey conducted by the US National Center For Missing and Exploited children since 2002, and this number is increasing, as the years progress.
What actions must parents take, keep their kids safe from the wrong hands of Social media?
Parents have been "checking in" for centuries, and they shouldn't believe that just because their kids are in the house behind a screen that something can't go wrong.
A ban, or being strict with your kids is not going to make things easier for them, as it will only make them eager to know more, and so they will be intrigued to find out what is beyond their reach.
An alternative method would be to talk it out with their kids and explain to them all the malpractices taking place in the virtual world so that they understand the sole reason for the parent's worry.
While every parent has probably taught their children not to talk to strangers in the offline world, many probably haven't had a conversation about how to make relationships in the online world.
Final Words
Parents must teach their kids how to deal with random abusive messages, by asking them to report and block the user.
Parents must keep track of what is happening in the browser of a teenager, as exposure to high-level pornography is one of the main concerns of parents all over the world.
Social media can make a kid very lazy, and physically unfit. Parents must make sure that their wards find a good kind of distraction, such as sports, extra-curricular activities, etc. that keep them busy most of the time.
Educate their kids about the grave impacts of releasing private information on social media.
Update them about the recent cyber-crimes and results, thus making them realize about the dangerous platform they are using.
Keep a tab on whatever they are posting about, and immediately correct them if it is
something which should not be shared, like controversial politics, mean comments, etc.
The future of today’s generation is in the hands of evil giants like social media, which can be both a friend and a foe. It is up to us, to decide what we want it to be.
Educating students and teenagers about the aftermath of social media needs to be done on a large scale.
More than conducting seminars for children, if parents are aware of all the happenings on the social networks, they would be the messengers to their wards, is what we feel.
Stay safe on the internet, readers! Take everything mentioned above into consideration before logging on to any social media app, here onwards.
