Why Parents Should Monitor Social Media

  • By: admin
  • Date: October 12, 2021
  • Time to read: 5 min.

As a father of four children, I have seen what can happen to my children and others on social media. When it comes to children’s access to social media, the two first things that pop into the minds of many concerned parents like myself are cyberbullying and sexting. Those two common incidents online are enough to justify why parents should monitor social media, even while respecting the children’s need for privacy. 

It’s critical to monitor what your children say, share, and do on social media for the sake of your family’s safety as a whole. Watching your children’s online habits has never been easier, thanks to apps meant to help families stay secure. Let’s look at some of the reasons that parents should monitor their children’s online activities today:

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Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying, as shown in research published by the University of British Columbia, is a significant issue that is even more prevalent than traditional bullying. 

Only around a quarter of the young people polled indicated they had experienced or participated in cyberbullying, compared to only 12% who said they had experienced or participated in physical bullying

The “funny” thing is that 95% of the kids believe what transpired online was supposed to be funny, while only 5% believe what they did was intended to damage people. So, what distinguishes cyberbullying from regular harassment? One takes place on the internet and the other in person.

Cyberbullying can affect children of all ages. Your youngster may be hesitant to tell you if they have been the victim of cyberbullying. They may try to keep it to themselves and deal with it alone, but they will rapidly become overwhelmed and upset. It’s critical to ensure that your youngster is not being stalked or harassed on the internet or via their cell phone. You should be able to spot instances of possible bullying by looking at their social media activities.

Sexting

Parents of tweens and teens, in particular, should be concerned about this. Sexting may appear innocent to children, but it can have significant social and legal ramifications. Parents should watch the images their children snap and share on social media and in text messages. 

Please make sure the photographs they share are appropriate and aren’t receiving inappropriate content from others. Make it clear to them that if they wouldn’t show you a photo, it’s not suitable to share or post on social media.

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Predators on the Internet

While many parents talk to their children about protecting themselves from predators in the real world, you might ignore the hazards of online predators. To impressionable young people, they can be just as frightening and harmful. 

Parents should review their children’s social media messages to see with whom they’re communicating. Set the privacy settings to prevent strangers from viewing or accessing your child’s profile or material. 

You can also change the privacy settings on some sites to hide your child’s profile from search results, preventing predators from contacting them.

Consequences of Unmonitored Social Media

1.     Identity Theft

When children give out personal information online, they put themselves and their parents at risk of cyber identity theft. Many immoral persons are out there attempting to jeopardize the identities of others. You don’t want your children to fall prey to such people.

Children are unaware of how common cyber identity theft is on Facebook if you provide too much personal information. Parents may assist their children in staying secure by refraining them from sharing too much personal information on their Facebook profiles.

2. Computer Viruses

A child can unintentionally download a variety of Computer viruses and malware to a hard drive. When all these malware and viruses have gained access to your computer, they can carry out a variety of identity theft schemes. 

Cybercriminals might steal passwords; they could duplicate confidential files and data and also record keystrokes. Once this happens, these criminals will post the information to another site, where cybercriminals could use it to steal money. It is a significant reason why parents should monitor social media.

It is a significant problem that parents must make every effort to avoid. Parents should be mindful of the files their children download and whether they visit sites where harmful Trojans are notorious for the attack.

3. Child’s Involvement in Scams

There is always the possibility that older teens will become entangled in credit card scams. Online child safety does not end at the age of eighteen. In reality, parents will have to monitor their children’s internet usage to avoid significant financial problems.

When children get involved in credit card scams, it begins whetting their appetite for easy money and can lead to even further criminal activities. It is a situation that requires being nipped in the bud, or even better, not being exposed to at all.

4. Internet Stalking

Internet stalking is a problem that many teenagers and children face and a top reason that parents must monitor social media for their children. Those who have Facebook profiles may be at a high risk of being stalked. Repeated emails and messages are the most typical kind of stalking. 

Stalking can escalate to phone calls and even visits to one’s home if personal contact information gets published on the Facebook profile. To dramatically improve online child safety, you must eliminate the possibility of online stalking. That is a requirement.

Spending too much time online is never a good thing for a child’s social development. If for no other reason than to protect their child from being socially constrained, parents should watch their child’s online activity.

These four consequences hardly scrape the surface of the topic of internet child safety. Whatever rationale parents use to keep their children safe online, the fundamental truth is that you must always keep the younger, less experienced members of your family secure. If you don’t, a lot can go wrong.

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Limiting the Amount of Time, you Spend Online

While many children have constant access to their mobile devices, it is critical to set screen time limitations. You’ll be able to get a better idea of how much time your youngster spends on social media if you keep an eye on what they’re doing. 

Set reasonable rules for everyone in the family to keep internet usage to a minimum. You’ll have an easier time developing and maintaining limits if you know what your child is doing.

You may elect to monitor your teenage son or daughter’s social networking remotely after reading the available software comparison reviews. You can also do the same with a simple Google search. The government offers great anti-bullying resources at stopbullying.gov. 

The Bottom Line

If browsing through your child’s social media profiles makes you feel bad, remember that you have a duty and an obligation to keep them as a father or parents as a whole safely online, and that’s why parents should monitor social media. 

You’ll have a better sense of what your children are up to if you monitor their activities, and you’ll be able to set appropriate boundaries. It’s a straightforward technique to safeguard kids’ internet safety.

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