Children's safety in social networks
There are still people who do not have a profile in social networks, but when they mention it, people look at them strangely as if they were oddballs or extraterrestrials. And that is, the use of networks Nowadays it is so widespread that even children have their own space. Despite the fact that Fac
There are still people who do not have a profile in social networks, but when they mention it, people look at them strangely as if they were oddballs or extraterrestrials. And that is, the use of networks Nowadays it is so widespread that even children have their own space.
Despite the fact that Facebook, Twitter or Google + are some of the most popular, there is no shortage of networks created especially for children such as Club Penguin, Togetherville or Yoursphere. However, how can we protect children from the dangers of social networks?
Protection of children in social networks
Guiainfantil.com has spoken withJavier Urra, doctor in psychology and pedagogue therapist, to find out his opinion regarding the use that children should make of social networks and how to protect them from their dangers.
For Javier Urra, 'social networks are the world'. And it is that formerly, our grandparents and great-grandparents lived in the towns and they were related almost exclusively with their relatives and neighbors. Our parents left that environment and traveled through their countries of origin and even, sometimes, they knew other countries. But children today are anywhere in the world, new technologies allow it. "The world is getting smaller and smaller and there are practically no borders between states," explains Urra.
One of these new technologies that allow people to be connected to each other, wherever they live, are social networks. Through them, it is often transmitted and others are informed of any aspect of private and intimate life. Parents have profiles on social networks, and through them they often tell personal stories, hang family photos and keep a kind of diary in which they transmit everything that happens to them.
'Children imitate adults' affirms Javier Urra and, this can become dangerous in an area such as social networks. Children do not understand or simply do not know the danger that they can entail and that they expose themselves to situations such as cyberbullying, grooming or sexting. They publish their privacy without shame.
How to help children face the dangers of social networks?
- Do not publish personal data. Explaining to children that they do not have to provide personal information to strangers or meet people they have met through the Internet if they are not accompanied by an adult is essential.
- Encourage family dialogue and communication to create the environment of confidence necessary for the child to count without shame if he is suffering from some type of harassment on the Internet or feels uncomfortable in any situation.
- Do not let the child use the computer, smartphone or tablet whenever he wishes and as he wishes. We must know what pages you visit, what websites you browse and what type of activity you have on the Internet. We can not close our eyes with the excuse that we do not know about new technologies.
- Education is the best parental filter. Explaining to children what types of harassment can occur on the Internet will help them be prepared for these dangers.
