As technology advances and begins to permeate nearly every part of our lives, many parents have found themselves asking the most bizarre technology-related questions which, ten years ago, would have sounded like complete gibberish. Does iPhone monitoring software exist? Is Xbox Live safe for kids? Is it safe for ME? Is there some type of Instagram monitoring tool that won’t make my kid rebel because I’ve “invaded his privacy?” And just as you finally conquer one social media platform, you realize that two more confusing websites have sprung up over night and your kids have already made profiles on them.
The thing is, internet safety is about more than making sure your 13-year-old child doesn’t get access to the latest R-rated horror movie and have reoccurring clown nightmares for two weeks straight. The internet can be extremely convenient and wildly entertaining, but it can also be very dangerous, because it enables adolescent bullying in a way that was never possible before. Older generations tend to abide by the “Toughen Up” attitude when it comes to bullying, but these generations haven’t experienced the digital bullying that happens today. Way back when — you know, the time when you had to walk to and from school in 4 feet of snow, uphill both ways — the bullying stopped once you came home. Today, when one kid really wants to bully another, the opportunities are virtually endless.
An estimated 93 percent of all adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 use the internet, and nearly three quarters of all teens in this same age group have profiles on social media websites. And it gets pretty difficult to monitor internet activity when you hear the argument “But I have a research project and need to go online!” so often. The situation may start to seem hopeless. You may want to give up.
But don’t. Don’t give up. Don’t stop talking with your kids about what they’re doing online, and don’t start believing that you’ll never find a good way to monitor internet activity without starting the next world war. Protecting your kids while they’re online has never been more difficult — but it has never been more important, either.
