Kids might not know how to interact with relatives at a family gathering, but they do know how to comment on Facebook, like a picture on Instagram and make a Snapchat. Kids these days are experts at socializing online. I don’t blame them, as they are growing up in an age where everything is shared online and some things are done solely with the purpose of posting it on social media.
While it has made everything global, people stay connected all the time and staying in touch with your high school friends isn’t a problem anymore, it has also created some problems for the youngsters.
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Cyberbullying
Social media sites are the prime areas of expressing hate speech, negativity and making fun of other people just for the heck of it. Social media is popular for it because they know no one can come out of their phone or computer and catch them. Some sites provide complete anonymity in which the victim doesn’t even know who is harassing them. Kids get deeply affected by such acts and become depressed.
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Online Predation
Stranger danger is no longer limited to the streets. Child predators use online social sites to reach kids. They have the perfect cover and they can pretend to be anyone. They get the kids talking, befriend them and eventually pull out personal info from them. They, then, use this info to capture innocent kids.
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Addiction
These apps are also responsible for making them tech addict. Kids develop a constant need to refresh their news feed or check their notifications. It leads to a point where they check their phones after every 5 minutes even when there is nothing new happening.
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Behavioral Changes
They develop difficulty in real time communication and tend to avoid human interaction. They prefer staying at home and lose interest in physical activity as well. This increases the risk for depression and anxiety.
USE PARENTAL CONTROL APPS TO AVOID THESE RISKS?
These issues are horrifying and most parents want to take their kids’ phones away when they hear about them. But let’s not forget the fact that these devices also keep you connected with your kids, especially in a time of crisis. There is a more practical solution and that is keeping a check on them with the help of parental control apps. You can take different steps with the help of apps like FamilyTime Parental App.
With this app in hand, you can see what social media apps they are using and block them. You can put screen limits on their device use and keep them from getting addicted. Other than that you can monitor their web activity and other activity like text messages, calls, contacts, etc. to look out for cyberbullying and stress due to that. Apart from the cyber safety, keep them safe with the help of location tracking and Geofencing alerts. And this is not all about FamilyTime. There are many more incredible features that you can explore by giving this app a free try.
Always teach them to be vigilant while sharing and interacting with people online. Keep them away from these sites for as long as possible and after that allow supervised use only. A little investment in parental control apps can ensure kids’ safety in digital space and they can lead a balanced, stress-free life.