samlak
Daily, technology keeps advancing at an extremely rapid state. There has been the birth of new technologies and of course, social media platforms. Status updates, poking, photo tagging and aren’t just for adults anymore.
Researchers say a growing number of children are flouting age requirements on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and MySpace. Also using social-networking sites designed not for them. Facebook and MySpace, Facebook, require users to be 13, but the sites can’t really enforce it.
Study found 38% of kids ages 12 to 14 have online social media accounts. Some scientists worry that pre-adolescent use of the sites, which some therapists have linked to Internet addiction among adults, could be damaging to children’s relationships and brains.
But many other experts say that kids’ social networking use is “pretty harmless” since the platform require users to be at least 13. But they have no practical way to verify ages, and many young users pretend to be older when signing up. There isn’t any solid research to back that up and that most children seem to use social-media sites in moderation, and in positive way.
In two surveys reported in early 2016 by Pew Internet Research, 61% of those in the study, ages 12 to 17, said they use social-networking sites to send messages to friends, and 42% said they do so every day.
There’s no problem in letting your kids use social media, however some guidelines are required.
*.Ensure that the social media accounts provide as little personal information as possible.
*.Allow their activities to be seen by confirmed friends alone.
*.Monitor the pages and note any new friend your kid adds.
*.Most importantly, don’t let your child be too addicted to it by spending long hours on social media sites.
This could have lasting negative effects as they mature. However, we shouldn’t get swept away by the general fear. As long as it is properly controlled, it is pretty harmless.
Parental supervision is key here so that the kids won’t be targets for online predators. This is due to the fact that kids aren’t mature enough to make good decisions about their privacy.
