Children nowadays are growing up with 24/7 access to websites and applications that allow them to play online games, chat with friends and strangers, constantly share photos of their personal life, and so on. But you must realize that spending time online is not all bad, but spending too much time on the internet can have negative physical and emotional side effects. Parents should be aware of so many dangers they may face on the internet.
Hyper connectivity That Threaten Children’s Safety on the Internet
According to a recent survey, two-thirds of adolescents text every day, 50% of them check social media sites every day, and one out of every ten sends or receives tweets at least once each day. And younger kids are getting and staying connected in increasing numbers. “When kids are constantly connected, it takes time away from other essential skill developments like social and interpersonal skills, “says technology and parenting expert Sharon Cindrich.
Spending too much time online can weaken the bond between the parents and the child and prevents the child from improving several social skills. It denies them learning the ability to be alone by themselves in the real world and spending time focusing on their abilities and developing them.
Health problems, Physical issues
spending too much time in front of any screen for too long is bad. Usually, the kids that spend their time playing games online or browsing social media, or surfing the web and do not spend time on physical activities tend to struggle with obesity more than others. Staring at a screen for a long time causes eyesight problems, and by delaying the release of melatonin, screen time pushes back bedtime and leads to less restful sleep. As the majority of teens have strict school start times, a later bedtime usually results in less sleep overall, and that can make kids sleepy the morning after.
Mental (Psychological) issues
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, many children suffer from mental health disorders due to the detrimental behaviors and circumstances due to the negative behaviors and conditions in their circle of friends and the environment in which they live. Many youngsters suffer from mental health illnesses. If not supervised and managed by parents, the increasing speed of the digital revolution, as well as the persistent availability of the internet and social media in everyday life, might progressively impair a child’s mind.
The internet can also cause low self-esteem, poor sleep quality, irritability, and concentration issues in children, all of which can have a negative impact on their learning and development. At an early age, an addiction to or psychological dependence on the internet and other digital devices can cause neurochemical changes in the brain and nervous system, which can lead to lifelong neurological diseases.
Danger of cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is harm done by an individual (sometimes an anonymous person) willingly and repeatedly via digital devices like mobile phones, computers, and tablets. Cyberbullying can happen through texts, social media, or gaming. It may happen in so many different ways like sending someone rude messages, stalking, hate speeches, sexing or sending nudes, or hacking.
Danger of predators
Predators try to groom children. Grooming is the process during which a child sexual offender draws a child in by gaining his or her trust to sexually abuse the child and maintain secrecy. Any sort of application, whether it’s a game or social media, where there is a direct messaging ability can be a good place for predators. That’s where Online conversations can turn out into real-life meet-ups.
Explicit content
From violent and distressing content to online porn, there is a lot of information or imagery that upsets your kid, material directed at adults, false information, or information that can persuade or tempt your child to engage in unlawful or harmful action are examples of inappropriate content. Some specific examples of potentially damaging content for children and teenagers include sites that encourage eating disorders or self-harm.
How to protect your child of Threaten Children’s Safety on the Internet
The most important thing you can do is engage in open and honest communication. Use the internet together and make it part of your family’s activities. The more you explore together, the more you will learn about their online behaviors and interests.
On the other hand, it’s necessary to monitor child’s activity on their computer, tablet, or phone. Of course, you can’t keep your eyes on them all the time. That’s where a parental control app becomes useful. An app like Safes will help you monitor your child’s device remotely, blocks inappropriate content, and alerts you whenever your child’s exposed to online dangers. Safes also lets you set a screen time schedule for your child, so you can make sure they don’t spend too much time online. leave comment below for start communication to our safes parental control software support Expert for parental control software.
