In today’s world, many teenagers have access to phones, tablets, and computers. The world is surrounded by vast amounts of technology and due to this reality, many children and adolescents have access to the internet and join social networking apps. Many people join social media apps to interact with their friends and family or view various types of content, however, many individuals utilize social media for malicious intentions. These dangers can affect younger kids’ well-being, this means social media can affect one’s state of mind and health negatively. Since there are dangers all over social media it is important to have measures to prevent any strike on their well-being. Therefore, authoritative figures such as parents and school staff should start making an effort in monitoring the children and adolescents’ activities on social media to prevent any future attacks on their well-being. When Parents make an effort in monitoring their children’s social media, the children will become more aware of the many risks present on social media and become responsible as they grow. There are methods in which parents can monitor their children and choose the most effective method to help their children stay safe on social media. (Padilla-Walker et al.,2020).
Parental monitoring is important because according to research, it is revealed that there are many risks in social media, for example, Haynes and Lyns (2015) research article goes into depth about the different risks that affect one’s well being. The research article by Zilka (2018) on the perspective of children, adolescents, and young adults, we can gain insight into their usage, activities, sharing, and what they encounter on social media. In a research article by Beyars et al.(2020), he conducted a study that involved a school district and the effectiveness of school monitoring. The outcome of this study was positive and this proves that school monitoring was effective, which is why parents should become more involved with their children’s social media in order to prevent dangers to their well-being. All these studies reveal that parental monitoring as well as school monitoring are effective strategies that help prevent any potential risks to the children and adolescents’ wellbeing.
There are many risks present on social media that may cause consequences to one’s well-being. In a research article named “Defining user risks in social networking services” (Haynes & Lyn, 2020), the main purpose was to identify the risks faced by online social networking sites. These risks include cyberbullying, identity theft, ostracism, discrimination, and much more. With the number of risks present on Social media, there are also consequences that derived from these risks. According to Haynes and Lyn (2020), the consequences can vary from loss of self-esteem, loss of liberty, self-harm, and more. These consequences gravely affect one’s well being, with the dangers of social media, many younger children and adolescents who use it may experience the risk and cause changes in their mood or mentality. Due to the many risks on social media, authoritative figures such as parents and schools must take action. This means that parents and schools should start monitoring the younger kids’ social media activities in order to prevent any major harm to their well-being.
Zilka (2018) is the author of this research article and in her study, she aimed to provide the perspective of the children, adolescents, and young adults and examine the participants’ usage habits, activities, sharing, and the hazards of social media. In this study, there were 551 participants including children, adolescents, and young adults. The participants completed questionnaires and answered questions such as “What do you like about social networking apps?” and “Do SNA help you solve problems in your everyday life?” The data showed that 41% of the participants experienced bullying, 40% experienced an invasion of privacy, and 22% were exposed to inappropriate content. In another similar study, it was revealed that out of the 238 participants 25.6% responded that they were bullied, 6.7% said they were sort of bullied and 67.6% responded that they were not bullied (Tzai-Pepelasi et al., 2017). This reveals that not everyone experiences cyberbullying, but there is still a high number of participants that experienced cyberbullying on social media. Even though 67.6% of the participants were not bullied, it is still important for parents to monitor their kids’ social media because you want them to become aware of the reality of social media. This gives evidence towards the statement that children, adolescents, and young adults are experiencing the dangers of social media, which is why parents and schools have to take action. Zilka (2018) believed that in order to “prevent the dangers inherent in social networking apps” there has to be an “external control”. This external can be parents or anyone present in the child’s life. She concluded that if external control was involved in the children’s social media, then it can prevent the child from experiencing some dangers on social media. Parental monitoring is an essential strategy in which parents can teach their children about the risks of SNA. Schools can also teach about this important topic in school and monitor their student’s activities. Once the child starts to become aware of the reality of social media, they will grow to become more responsible on social media apps.
Monitoring the children and adolescent’s social media activities will certainly have positive results. For example, Byars et al. (2020) conducted a study that involved a school district. The school district participated in a monitoring program in order to prevent youth suicide and school violence. This study conducted research that included a school district that included 17 schools. Out of 17 schools, 11 were elementary, 4 middle, and 2 high schools. We can infer that since more elementary schools were involved, there were more children and adolescents in the study. The school district reported that countless numbers of lives have been saved due to technology and social media monitoring. Byars et al. (2020) show an example of a suicide letter that one of the students wrote and due to the monitoring program, the school was able to stop the suicide attempt. The Study had a positive result which was the prevention of youth suicide. If the United States were to take up school monitoring programs, it will ultimately have a positive outcome. Many people will oppose the idea of the school monitoring the student’s social media activities. The main reason for this opposition is the issue of privacy and the idea that social media does not affect the well-being of everyone. There will always be parents and children who oppose the idea of school monitoring their social media and the main reason for this doubt is the issue of privacy and the idea that not everyone is affected by social media. However, there are already companies that monitor people on social media to gain insight into what people like and dislike. It is considered the “norm” (Byars et al., 2020) for these companies to surveil the people on social media apps. This is not an issue of privacy but rather an issue of one’s well-being when going on social networking apps. Also, not everyone’s well-being will indeed be affected negatively when using social media because according to Beyens et al., (2020), those who used social media passively and the effects of it on their well-being differed from adolescent to adolescent. Therefore, not every child experiences the same, even though this is true, parental monitoring and school monitoring is mostly a strategy for prevention. Since the school monitoring programs had a positive result, it is important for parents to also become involved in the process of monitoring in order to protect their children’s well-being
When it comes to parental monitoring, many parents take on the role of active monitoring or restrictive monitoring. There are ways in which parental monitoring can be very effective for adolescents. It is known that many children and adolescents tend to be secretive and deceiving when it comes to talking about their privacy. This may be a difficult component that parents may face, however, there is an effective strategy in which parents can get through their kids. According to Padilla-Walker et al., (2020), the two main forms that a parent uses when trying to monitor their kids is restrictive and active parental monitoring. In active parental monitoring the parents make an effort to have a conversation with their children about certain topics about social media to help create critical thinking and help them become more aware of social media. While the restive parental method involves rules and limits that are set and limit the children’s social media use. According to the authors, the most effective method when educating children and adolescents is by using the active parental monitoring method. This is because this method is more instructive and discussion-based which will help guide the child to becoming aware of Social media dangers. Another way in which parents can monitor their children is to make their children their friends online. According to Mesch, (2018) he stated that the age group “ 50 to 64, 56% reported having a Facebook account.” This reveals that many parents have a social media account and if they decide to “friend” their children online, they will be able to keep an eye on their children’s posts and friends. The most effective way in which parents can monitor their children is to utilize the active parental monitoring method. With parental monitoring, it will be easier to prevent the children from experiencing many risks found on social media.
With the many risks on social media, parents and schools need to monitor the children and adolescent’s social media. This is because parents and schools are the most present in the child’s life and therefore they should take the initiative in the idea of monitoring the child’s social media. Even though there are adolescents that prefer not to share their privacy with their parents, there are ways in which parental monitoring is effective for the children and adolescents. Parental monitoring will ultimately help the children and adolescents to become aware of the dangers of social media and it would also build a good parent-child relationship. Therefore, parental monitoring and school monitoring are effective ways for preventing any hazards to the children and the adolescent’s well-being. In today’s present world, many younger generations utilize social media apps to view an abundance of content, as well as connect with friends and family members. With the amount of technology in this world many younger generations have access to technology, and therefore join social media because it’s the norm for many teens.
References
Beyens, I., Pouwels, J. L., van Driel, I. I., Keijsers, L., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2020). The effect of social media on well-being differs from adolescent to adolescent. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 1-11.
Byars, J., Graybill, E., Wllons, Q., Harpers, L. (2020) Monitoring social mesia and technology use to prevent youth suicide and school violence, Contemporary School Psychology, 24, 318-326.
Haynes, D., Lyn, R. (2015). Defining user risks in social networking services. Aslib Journal of information Management, 67(1), 94-115
Mesch, G. S. (2018). Parent-child connections on social networking sites and cyberbullying. Youth & Society, 50(8), 1145-1162
Padilla-Walker, L. M., Stockdale, L. A., Son, D., Coyne, S. M., & Stinnet, S. C. (2020). Associations between parental monitoring style, information management, and prosocial and aggressive behaviors. Journal of Social & Personal Relationships, 37(1), 180-200
Tzai-Pepelasi, C., Ioannou, M., Synnott, J., Fumagalli, A. (2017). Cyber-bullying and children’s unmonitored media violence exposure. Assessment & Development Matters, 9(4), 2-6
Zilka Cohen, G. (2018). E-safety in the use of social networking apps by childrens, adolescents, and young adults. Interdisciplinary Journal of e-skills and lifelong learning, 14
