It is important that adults, especially adults in guardianship of children, are aware of the dangers of the World Wide Web, especially those found on social media. While good things can take place on social media, so can harmful and damaging things that not even adults should be subjected to. Social media platforms are places where anyone, including those with malicious intent, can post almost anything. Given this, even platforms such as YouTube Kids should be monitored very closely. It’s simply too unpredictable and too easy for people to post damaging content for children.
No one really knows who’s on the other side of the computer screen. When your child is allowed to navigate the online world on their own, they are instantly accessible to whoever else may be on there. Internet trolls, pedophiles and human traffickers are among those who could easily seek contact with your child. Even with my private account, I have received inappropriate messages from complete strangers on social media. Each of my seven roommates has experienced the same. It breaks my heart that young children who don’t have the same extent of understanding may receive these messages also and be too ignorant or ashamed to seek help.
No matter how mature or insusceptible you believe your child to be, it is imperative that you withhold or at the very least monitor your children’s social media consumption.
Alanna Bliss
Grantsville