Are Your Kids Cyber Smart?: Social Media 101

Photo by Jeremy Bezanger on Unsplash

Cyber safety is an important (and many times intimidating) topic for parents to consider. Our lives are very much integrated with technology in 2022, as are most schools our children attend. With that comes potential risks from all the various platforms our children are engaging with the internet. For a guide on the basics of cyber safety for kids, check out our blog post Are Your Kids Cyber Smart?.

For this post, we are going to dive into a more specified realm of the cyber world–and that’s social media. What started originally with MySpace and Facebook for Gen X and Millenials has since evolved into a more expansive world for socializing online for zoomers. Some networks like TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube are being used by teens and older children on a daily basis.

STATISTICS: SOCIAL MEDIA & KIDS/TEENS

Let’s take a look at the top 10 social media networks used by Gen Z in 2021:

*From a survey of 1,450 13-39 year olds in the US and Canada, in October 2021. (Results shown do not include Millenial ages 27-39). 

We can see that YouTube reigned high for zoomers (age 13-26) in 2021. Some other networks with growing popularity among Gen Z are networks like Discord, a voice, video and text app, and fortnite, a online gaming site. 

Common Sense Media surveyed children and teens and found that 8 to 12 year olds were online for an average of six hours per day and 13 to 18 year olds averaged 9 hours per day. 

There’s no doubt that the results from these recent studies show us that kids and teens are spending an extensive amount of time on social media these days. It has become a pillar in socialization, hobbies, learning and interests for this generation. Social networks have created a unique space for people to connect with friends, talk, hangout, and share experiences. And there are many positive outcomes and healthy socializing that kids and teens get from through social networks. However, the downside is that the positive outcomes can easily switch to negative ones with overuse, abuse, and poor decisions. 

This comparison chart from Consumer Notice tells us how teens feel about the ups and downs of social media:

Source: Pew Research Center

SOCIAL MEDIA SAFETY TIPS

Concerns such as: cyberbullying, inappropriate content sharing, sexual predators, comparison and privacy issues are unfortunately prevalent throughout social platforms. This is why it is key for parents and caregivers to: 1) be aware of the risks, 2) prepare their children and 3) set boundaries for social media usage. 

Online safety experts at VPN Mentor share that parents need to:

1. Create a safe environment. Parents need to set appropriate boundaries for network and app usage, crank up privacy settings, and monitor their child’s online browsing and chatting.

2. Discuss the pressure of sharing. Parents need to talk to kids about the importance of privacy and how to make wise choices when interacting with others online. For example, a child posts that they are with friends at Disneyland that day versus a child posts they are home alone and the parents are gone for the weekend. Both posts share the location of this individual with followers on their social network, but one is potentially harmful to their safety.

3. Tell kids to think before posting. It may seem obvious, but kids and teens need a reminder to not post something online that could be potentially harmful to themselves or to others. It’s extremely easy to attract the wrong kind of attention and/or cause harm to another individual through text, images or videos. Ask permission before posting someone else and remember to do unto others as you would do unto yourself. It’s also good to remember that people see things instantly on the internet. While you may delete a post, it may already have been read, seen or heard. 

4. Talk about stranger danger. While not all connections with strangers online are dangerous, children need to be cautious of who they follow (and follows them back) as there are potential dangers of predators and scammers who pose with false identities. Have children avoid meeting people in person if they’ve only met them online and when in doubt ask an adult if they are unsure or suspicious of someone. If children or teens receive sexual comments, advances, or unsolicited materials online, parents can use cybertipline.org to report individuals or incidents. CyberTipline works with law enforcement to stop online exploitation of children. 

Source: VPN Mentor

FINAL WORDS

The internet, social media, and potential threats will be constantly changing throughout the years and there really is no bulletproof way to guarantee nothing bad will happen to our kids. You can monitor and protect your child’s devices with all the passwords and restrictions in the world, but the best source of safety will ultimately come down to you! Children will come to their parents as a place of safety, so make sure to prepare your children to make wise choices and build a trusting relationship with them so they know they are safe to come to you. 

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