Online Communities

The Risks to Children on Social Networking Websites

Raising a child in the age of the Information Super Highway is harder than it seems. The more ease there seems to be for navigating your life online, the harder it is to keep your child away from some of the dangers that the internet provides. One of these possible issues is your child and the idea of social networking.

Social networking is as big as anything online today, such as the new Direct TV packages that has gathered several consumers. Millions and millions of people are getting more and more involved in sites where they can connect and reconnect with the people from their past and present. This might seem like a fun idea and activity for most adults but for children it poses a possible problem. There are more than a few traps to be careful of when dealing with your child and their entrance into the world of social networking.

The first is online sexual predators. You have seen the television specials about them and there are sites dedicated to stopping these online predators but you have to know that your kids are at risk by using social networking sites. These predators take the identity of someone younger to engage in online cyber sex or appear as a version of themselves offering money and anything else that might entice to kids in exchange for sexual favors. Everyone is at risk but kids are at severe risks for these sort of sexual predators.

The other problem kids face is more of a social issue as there is quite a bit of harassment that goes on through social networking sites. Kids, most specifically middle school children and high school age kids that are often the victims of online harassment. This is a continual and difficult problem for kids are there is also a social stigma attached to being a “snitch” so kids don’t feel comfortable telling figures of authority. However, it’s the constant harassment through messages and online postings that can cause kids to enter into a depression or in extreme situations commit suicide. These issues continue to be problematic as social networking continues to grow.

Rules for Kids and Social Networking

Kids are powering the social networking sites, there is little to no doubt about that. There are spending countless hours every day leaving messages for friends and uploading videos and music to their page. But is what they are doing really safe for them? And how do you, their parent, make sure they are being as safe as possible online?

Well if your child is old enough that they are a bit beyond the constant supervision you would like to give them then you have to just trust that you have done your job as a parent, however, if your child is still young enough where you okay and permission counts for everything then you might want to consider the following tips to keep your kids acting responsibly on social networking websites.

The first and most obvious choice is to create an account that you and your child share together. This of course means you can see everything they are doing and everything their friends are doing. The only two problems that arise from this idea is that your child now has access to everything you do and this eliminates your wish for privacy. The other problem with this is the immediate and heavy resistance your child will meet this decision with. This is, in effect, committing social suicide and therefore they might opt to not have one at all then have one with you.

The other option which might be met with a little less resistance is to allow your child to have their own account but be allowed to monitor it. This means establishing a set of ground rules that state that you must be able to see their entire account when necessary. You must have the same contacts your kid does your child must be able to tell you exactly how he knows of a certain person. This way it will keep away, or more accurately, help deter the presence of online predators. If your child cannot meet these conditions then you have to wonder if you can trust your child to do social networking at all.

Categories

Recent Posts