Educating Children to Use Social Media Safely

Social media is everywhere nowadays, and it’s fast becoming a part of daily life for the younger generations. Children of all ages are spending hours of their days watching videos, sending each other photos, and messaging on multiple social media platforms. As parents, this can be concerning, as many of us worry about the negative impacts social media may have on our children and teenagers.

But whilst there are both benefits and issues with social media, the best way to protect young people is to educate them on how to use these platforms safely. It’s important for parents and carers to understand the content their children are exposing themselves to, as well as the impact this may have on their mental health and wellbeing.

Here we will take a look at some tips for helping children and teens use social media safely.

Clickbait, False Advertising, and Misrepresentation

Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation on the internet. Social media platforms allow people to massively alter their appearances, names, and information so that they may not be anything like the person they portray themselves as in real life. This can be a difficult thing for young people to understand, and they need to learn to be cautious about what they believe to be true from the content they see online.

On certain platforms, controlling age-appropriate content can be difficult and this can mean that inappropriate content becomes accessible to young people. Due to the ways in which publishers can hide the true nature of their content and slip through the age-restricting filters, this is a massive problem that makes it all too easy for children and teenagers to accidentally stumble upon potentially harmful content.

You can use family apps to track the content your child is watching and set time limits to help them learn to balance their tech time. Keeping the communication open and being firm with your child about the boundaries of their social media use is a good way to keep them safe but still allow them a sense of freedom.

Misrepresentation is another huge issue for young people when it comes to social media. Filters, editing, and thirty-second portrayals of lavish lifestyles which are a far cry from reality have the potential to significantly lower their self-esteem. Without the maturity to understand the falseness of this content, teens and children can suffer serious consequences to their wellbeing and mental health.

Personal Information and Cyberbullying

Children and teenagers need to understand the importance of not divulging personal information to anyone over the internet, as well as the risks of publishing sensitive or identifying information online. For example, they should never state which school they attend, their home address, or places where they like to hang out with friends on any online platform, as this makes it easy for criminals to target them. With just a name, photograph, and location, unsupervised children and teenagers become much more vulnerable.

Cyberbullying can also escalate when perpetrators have identifying information which they may hold over teenagers or children to manipulate them online via messaging platforms. Make sure you use a family focused app to control and monitor your children’s conversations with both strangers and friends online. Teach your young people the signs of cyberbullying and what to do if they feel they are being targeted.

Keep the conversation open

One of the best ways to protect and educate children and teenagers from the dangers of social media is to keep the conversation open. Even if they don’t like being monitored or feel restricted, it’s important to keep firm boundaries on what you will and won’t allow them to do on social media. Remember that peer pressure is a massive influence on behaviour, so try to stay calm and empathetic when educating them on how to stay safe online. With the right tools and education, social media can be a positive part of young people’s lives, so long as they understand the risks and appreciate that it does not always represent real life.