Make the Best of ICT While Being Safe, Sound and Sensible
Kids are exposed to the online world from a very young age. This fact alone does not allow us to make any sort of value judgement though regardless of our proclivity to do so. This is just a fact of our lives. There is ample evidence which shows that Gen-Z has grown up viewing mobile phones as a fact of life as opposed to previous generations and this has therefore caused them to use such devices with free abandon. It is also abundantly clear that the major reason kids use devices such as phones and laptops is to gain access the online communities and forums. There is friendship and community to be found in such groups and it is even more appealing when that friendship is focused on a particular goal like discussing an anime or a game. There is a plethora of such forums dedicated to all sorts of niches from gaming to memes in many subreddits. Once they gain access such forums, they will inevitably be exposed to inappropriate content even without them wanting to view it. On the internet, they can just as easily learn something useful as they can be corrupted and the result depends on how one uses one’s time online. This is easier said than done since even adults cannot stop scrolling through endless posts of Facebook and Instagram as they while away huge portions of life. If that is so with adults, how much more difficult will it be for kids to control themselves and reduce the time they spend online? The dangers of the online world are many, ranging from cyberbullying and online grooming to ideological persuasion, and it is the responsibility of the parents to monitor their child’s internet usage.
YouTube, Snapchat, and Instagram are the most frequented platforms by Gen-Z and it is easy to see why. Watching countless videos, shorts, reels, and gaining easy access to multiple forums are appealing to the young mind. These activities promote low attention spans and a desire for instant gratification that impedes healthy development and would prove detrimental to the overall well-being of kids in the long run.
Parents today feel as though they are limiting their child’s freedom if they impose certain rules but that is not so. A child under eighteen is not capable of making rational decisions regarding his online behaviour. Parents must take a more involved approach when it comes to monitoring their children’s online activity. The most important step is to limit the amount of screen time since this forces the child to form actual relationships and have real interactions outside the online community.
Currently, children are not only spending more time on the internet, but they are also geting there far sooner, at a very young age. Hand in hand are the serious risks, including cyberbullying, risks to privacy, etc., which have particularly become acute amid the COVID-19 crisis and the surge in screen time it has precipitated across children of all ages. It’s fascinating to find that developed countries all across the globe have started considering child online safety with due importance. Some of them have already started brainstorming on creating policy frameworks to address this growing concern. It is indeed a matier of pride that the UAE is a front runner in identifying and addressing child online safety as a concern that, if not addressed, has the potential to be a serious threat to the future generation of our great nation.
There is plenty of opportunity to form connections on the internet through chat boxes and messengers and while they are not all bad and do provide a sense of camaraderie and kinship, they are a poor substitute for real world relationships.
Another important aspect that is usually ignored is actually telling the child they will monitor his online activity and telling him to do his online activity on the family PC. This is a great way to limit the possibility of him viewing harmful sites. Do not let children use a personal device unless you are sure they are mature enough to handle one. That sort of freedom must be earned and you should determine when the child is ready to handle a personal device. The pitialls and problems of life on the internet are so vast and the consequences so dire, so a litile caution goes a long way. Most importantly, communicate with your children about the time they spend online and how one can best use that time. Let them understand that you actually want to help them. Let them know that the online world can be as dangerous as it is wonderful and give them guidelines and tools to help them make good use of the wonderful tool that is the internet.
Teachers can follow much the same policies in their interaction with the kids as well. By showing them correct ways of surfing the internet, the harm of excessive use, and the guidelines they ought to follow, they can inculcate good online habits for the children. Schools must also take an active part in teaching kids about online safety and how to use to the internet in an appropriate manner. Conducting training classes would be a good way to try to introduce good online practices to kids.
Now, the best way to counter bad practices is to start practising good ones. Show them the great things they can do online. Try out some educational games for smaller kids. For the slightly older ones, encourage them to try learning coding and photoshop. Young kids are showing how skilled they can be in such tasks, so let your children explore those areas and see where their interest lies. Once something clicks, they will not be interested in immature communities and forums and their time will be used much more productively.
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