Digital Risks Of Children’s Use Of Technology
Digital Society has transformed the way people relate to each other forever. Every individual has the power to express himself in real time to the world, generating contents that are perpetuated on the Internet. However, without education, what would be a positive thing can generate many negative things, from digital offenses to the practice of plagiarism, in addition to other digital crimes. The Internet ended up bringing the world into the family home. Many of the parents who spend the day at the computer come home and do not want to see anything about technology. They end up by not interacting with their children's digital life routine. They delegate the guidance to 'Google' or 'Wikipedia.' But major digital risks are very similar to those in the real world. It has to do with talking to a stranger, suffering harassment, having access to inappropriate content for the age, experiencing intimacy exposure or even being a victim of an offense. A parent who gives a camera phone to a child should explain that he cannot take photo of others without authorization and post on the internet.
The age group most at risk on the Internet is 10 to 14 years. This is due to the early use of mobile phones, tablets, everything connected to the Internet, without much control or supervision of parents. So, in the first stage, the biggest risk is exposure to inappropriate content, as the child searches YouTube videos or online games and can fall into pornography sites or even pedophilia. Then there is the risk of harassment and exposure to intimate life, such as the publication of photos, routine information and family data, which may even attract criminals. So, when the child becomes a teenager, the most common are the problems of cyberbullying and those related to abuse of freedom of expression, practice of digital offenses. At this time, it is common the problem of false profile (someone to create a profile on behalf of the young man and pretend to be it) and also exposure to piracy. Finally, there are incidents related to the use of passwords and credit card, such as purchases on sites that can be scams and have virus contamination.
Parents should have access to children’s devices and messages because they need to protect them from malicious people, to monitor them to not access improper content, and to educate and guide them by society principles. The malicious people in the Internet is a major concern of parents. Delivering the child to social networks and mobile games is to make room for new contacts and information. In 2016, the 'Blue Whale Challenge' became a serious issue and was directly associated with the increase in suicide cases among children and adolescents. Last year, the alert came as 'Momo' appeared, a large-eyed, long-haired female image that challenged children through social networks. The person behind this begins to make threats involving the family members of the children, using personal information from the family, challenging them to do dangerous things.
In 2009, at the request of President Barack Obama, the Homeland Security created a program called Stop. Think. Connect. This campaign was created to help the Americans understand the dangers that can be found online and what can be done to avoid them. As part of this campaign parents were alerted with a survey where 'Kids ages 8-18 spend 7 hours and 38 minutes per day online', which means 'ONE HALF of the time that he or she is awake is spent online'. And being online, the kids face issues like Cyber Predators, Cyber Bullying and Identity Theft.
In addition to establishing Internet browsing rules for their children, parents should deal with whether their children have profiles in social media. The purpose of social networks is to increase the level of relationship and integration between people. It is interesting to find friends from childhood or friends who would not be able to find if there were no social networks. Parents can support their children to use social networks for the purpose of improving their relationships. But despite all the advantages that social networks offer, they are also considered the most dangerous face of the virtual universe. This is because children are placed before possibilities and information when they are still developing the ability to discern what is true or false, good or bad. Thus, the network turns an open door to different hazards. Harassment of minors in social networks and applications occurs full time. To avoid such cases, most social networks establish a minimum age for the user. The same goes for Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat and Twitter. Many parents are unaware of age limits and allow their children to access some social networks and apps. Several reasons lead parents to let children have accounts on social networks. The most common is to claim that schoolmates have them. Curiosity is natural and healthy, and should be encouraged. But parents should keep up with their children's actions and their findings. That goes also in virtual environments. If the child has profiles on social networks, parents should guide them to avoid publishing intimate photos of themselves or their relatives, to not reveal personal data, to not add people who do not know the social network, to not make appointments with anyone without warning parents, to avoid posting something they would not speak in person, and to report if they see someone bullying, discriminating or threatening a person.
While browsing, the user leaves 'traces' on the internet that allow parents to learn the children’s habits and opinions. In addition, the care and attention of parents is worth both to know if they do not suffer threats in the network or if they do not cause incorrect disclosures. It is parents' legal duty to educate children. Education should be extended to the virtual world. Parents are responsible for the actions of their children. So, parents should guide and monitor their children in the same way as they would regarding to conventional activities and relationships. The dialogue should precede the conscious use of the internet. Also, a parental control software is an alternative for parents to monitor their children in the digital environment, identify dangerous behaviors, and educate them. These programs generally allow parents to monitor their children's activity on the network, block inappropriate content, and restrict usage times. The market also presents other similar tools. There are softwares that allows pre-blocking of specific websites or content, creating time and time filters for browsing and instant messaging, and qualifies websites and search tools based on their reputation.
Regardless of all this information to keep children and adolescents from being exposed, tampering with their children's cell phones can be counterproductive. From the teenager's point of view, he may begin to feel that he is not respected and that his parents do not trust him. This can lead to poor behavior. Also, he / she may think it does not matter if he / she misbehaves or access inappropriate information, since in any case their parents no longer trust him. Or maybe he / she can play these attitudes with the sole purpose of annoying their parents. However, parents cannot stand idly by hoping that the best happens. In this wait things can quickly get out of control. Then it will be too late. The best thing to do is to gain the trust of your children. If there is a trusting relationship, there is no need to look at their cell phones. While it may be difficult to attain this confidence, it is something that can be started early. It is normal for teenagers to want to feel more independent with their new adult condition. So, one of the first things they ask for is a little privacy. If parents understand this process and do not act intrusive, sooner or later, it is more likely that the teenager will not try to impose himself anymore.
According to a Common Sense Media research (2016), “most parents (85 percent) said that monitoring their children’s media use is important for their children’s safety. For example, 41 percent of parents reported checking the content of their children’s devices and social media accounts “always” or “most of the time,” while 21 percent reported doing this “some of the time,” and 37 percent of parents reported doing this “only once in a while,” if at all. Parents of tweens (57 percent) were more likely to check their children’s devices and social media accounts “always” or “most of the time” than parents of teens (27 percent).”
Parents should be aware of their children's activities, but privacy should be respected, considering the child's age. Of course, a child of seven or eight should not have free access to Internet content, and closer monitoring is appropriate. However, the relationship between parents and children changes as adolescence begins, and children need more privacy than before. The conversation between parents and children should be open and honest, allowing parents to follow their children's activities and relationships without encroaching on their spaces. This measure is felt on a daily basis and established in these conversations by mutual agreement. While tracking a child is often unethical, there are some cases where this can be justified. If a parent has good reason to suspect that their child has suicidal thoughts or he/she is involved with extremist groups or other activities that threaten their life or that of others, the best course of action may involve breaking trust, invading privacy, and monitoring the child.
Parents who are suspicious of their children being bullied at school, sending pornographic messages or even selling drugs have several applications available that help them control what kids do online. The variety of the parental control apps market is such that it fuels the teen privacy debate. The programs can show what the user is posting on social media, give access to deleted text messages and reveal messages sent in applications. The creators of these applications ask parents to tell their children that they are being monitored, but apps can usually run secretly. These apps can be used to connect entire families and send alerts when someone is above the speed limit or has left a certain perimeter set as a limit. Many families feel more secure receiving notifications about where their children are.
However, teens are usually better at using technology than their parents. So, apps like these can create a kind of 'cat-and-mouse game' in which they try to avoid the prying eyes of their elders. Parental control apps are also prepared for these situations. If the children do not call back or switch off the phone, it is possible, from a distance, to disable the phone, so that it only works to call the parent. According to a research of University of Central Florida (2018), with 215 parent-and-teen pairs, 'authoritarian parents, who were less responsive to their teen’s need for autonomy, were the most likely to use the parental control apps, and the use of these apps was associated with teens experiencing more, not fewer, online risks, including unwanted explicit content, harassment, and online sexual solicitations'.
The study still has a problem to try to solve, researchers have been unable to understand the exact connection between applications and increased risk online. However, the results indicate it is better to try to trust the child than to control him. And always seek open communication, which counts for both sides, for the child to trust his parents, it is necessary to trust him too. Regardless of whether to choose parental control tools, parents should take some action about their children, such as: share moments online with the child and talk to him about the use of technology; use content filters, which are useful, but they do not block all dangerous content; control the time spent on the internet and avoid the dependence of being connected; and maintain a relationship of trust with the children, respecting their privacy.
References
- Abney, B., & Kotala, Z. (2018, April 2). How Parental-Control Apps May be Counterproductive. University of Central Florida, UCF Today. Retrieved from https://www.ucf.edu/news/apps-keep-children-safe-online-may-counterproductive/
- Homeland Security. (n.d.). STOP.THINK.CONNECT™ National Cybersecurity Awareness Campaign Kids Presentation [Press release]. Retrieved June 18, 2019, from https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/Kids Cybersecurity Presentation.pdf
- Lauricella, A. R., Cingel, D. P., Beaudoin-Ryan, L., Robb, M. B., Saphir, M., & Wartella, E. A. (2016). The Common Sense census: Plugged-in parents of tweens and teens. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense Media
- Quinn, M. J. (2017). Ethics for the information age (7th ed.). Boston: Pearson.
