My content focuses on the role that parents play in helping teach children digital literacy and safety. My content goes over certain risks that are taking place and then goes into how parents can implement safety strategies. I took two articles into an account that give tips on digital safety implementation.
Adolescents have always tested parental boundaries and it is no different with social media boundaries parents have imposed. Social media has become an integral part of our society which has many drawbacks and benefits. Social media provides a way for teenagers to socialise but this can lead to the unpleasant side of social media like cyberbullying and online predators (Van Rjj, 2017). Research done by Ofcom found that a long list of friends is considered cool regardless if you have actually met the friend. Researchers have found that interacting with strangers has become acceptable and is not seen as a risk by young people (Agosto, Abbas, 2017). Regardless if they are platonic or romantic, building relationships is society’s new norm. Pew found that 31 percent of 13-17 year olds have sent a flirty message online and 10 percent have sent flirty or sexy pictures or videos of themselves (Van Rjj, 2017). There is no way to completely avoid the unpleasant sides of social media but there are four ways parents can help their teenagers stay on the safe side. The first way is to simply talk to your teenagers. A direct way to protect your teenagers is to explain the dangers of social media and communicating with strangers. It is also important for your children to know they can confide in you. Even if you warn them about the dangers, they may still happen. Whether they are being bullied, are made uncomfortable, experiencing sexual comments; they need to know they can come to you (Van Rjj, 2017). A third way is to monitor their apps in a nonintrusive way. Ask them about the apps they are using and how they work. Express a genuine curiosity. Lastly, build a good relationship with your teens, this will aid in guiding them towards becoming responsible adults (Van Rjj, 2017).
Content Created By Natalie Linnekin
Citations
Agosto, D. E., & Abbas, J. (2017). “Don’t be dumb—that’s the rule I try to live by”: A closer look at older teens’ online privacy and safety attitudes. New Media & Society, 19(3), 347–365. https://doi-org.umw.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/1461444815606121
VAN Rij, G. (2017, April). Parents Need to Be Clued in on Teens. . USA Today Magazine, pp. 11–12.
