YOUR CHILD AND SOCIAL NETWORKING
May is child month, and as we celebrate our children globally, at Get Safe Online, we reflect on the significant impact that COVID-19 pandemic has made in exposing children to a more online world in the area of social media and networking. Social networking has been – and still is – one of the revolutions of the online age and, when used correctly, is an excellent way of keeping in touch with friends and family. However, it can also be a source of harm for your child. Most social networking sites set a lower age limit for membership (13 years old is commonplace), but it’s easy for children to get around this and get online at an earlier age. The main risks are associated with your child befriending or talking with a stranger who may be stalking them. Also, cyberbullying from either strangers or people they already know, being scammed by downloading or linking to hoax content, and identity theft by revealing private information in profiles and posts are significant risks. Though it may seem unthinkable, your child could also be bullying or saying inappropriate things about somebody else, rather than being the target.
Teach your child to be very careful to befriend and communicate with only trusted people that they know. Tell them that revealing personal details such as their birth date, address, pet’s name, or teacher could give someone all the information they know to harm them. Teach them not to click on links or download from unknown sites. And teach them about the safe use of passwords and other login details. It’s very commonplace for children’s pages to be hacked into, and their profiles being changed either for fun or maliciously or harmful comments to be posted by someone else in their name. These instances can also happen if they leave their computer or mobile device on and walk away from it without logging off the site. Above all, assure them that it’s OK to come to you or another trusted adult if they feel threatened by or uncomfortable about
something they have seen or done on a social networking site. Please encourage your child to tell you which sites they’re using, and ask them to show you how they work. All of the above information and advice apply to instant messaging services too. Here are some popular social networking sites and apps and associated threats.
Facebook is the most popular social networking site on the planet. Threats to be aware of includes potential bullying, stalking, scamming, malicious posts, identity theft, and hacking.
Twitter is a social networking site that enables users to send and read short messages or ‘tweets.’ With well over 500 million registered users worldwide, it is one of the ten most visited sites and becoming increasingly popular with young people. The main things to watch out for and advise your child about are malicious or bullying tweets, and not clicking on links that could be a hoax.
Snapchat
Snapchat is a popular photo-sharing app for Apple and Android mobile devices that lets users share their photos for a few seconds before they ‘disappear.’ However, anyone receiving a pic can keep it by taking a screenshot, and new apps have been developed which enable the picture to be retained by the receiver. The site is heavily criticized for making it easy for children to be stalked or groomed. The age limit to join the site is 13, but many children do so much younger.
Instagram is a photo and video-sharing social networking service owned by Facebook. Images can be loaded only via a mobile device - not on a computer. Instagram is
widely criticized for being a major platform for abusive messages, harassment, and also sharing child sexual abuse images. The age limit to join the site is 13, but many children do so much younger.
Youtube
Youtube is the world’s largest video-sharing social networking site that lets users upload and share videos, view them, and comment on them. The primary threat associated with Youtube is a channel that can be hacked, and personally recorded videos can be downloaded without permission.
Tiktok
Tiktok is an IOS, and Android social media video app for creating and sharing short lip-sync comedy and talent videos. This app is not for young children because of the access to inappropriate content and the use of popular music that may contain explicit language.
When speaking to you child about Social media and their safety, ask these questions: • Do you know your friends online? • Who can find what you post on social media? • Are you responsible and in control of what you share online? • How does your profile appear? • Do you know how to use ‘Graph Search’? • How to manage ‘Hidden from timeline’ “block” and “delete” features? • How do you use your friends lists? • Do you know how to deactivate your account?
We hope these tips will help you to safeguard your child on social media platforms, and generally, when he/she is online. For more detailed information on keeping your child safe online, visit Jamaica’s dedicated online safety resource www.getsafeonline.org.jm.