Social Media is the Ideal Place for Cyberbullying

Parents may or should feel the need to interfere in their child's social media life. Although monitoring the social media accounts of their children to prevent cyber bullying is a good thing, many parents have other ways to use monitoring software to help them easily keep track of their child’s social profiles and messages and also limit their usage of their phone. You can childproof the phone to limit their use of phone usage at certain times of the day. So basically like putting a lock on their internet and social media accounts. When you first give your child a smartphone or tablet for the first time on their own, it’s important to set a ground rule/standard when using that device. Like that they will be monitored until they are old enough to understand the responsibility and accept all accountability for any actions and misconduct that happens on the web and or anything that can be used against you to hurt you.

There also are other ways that parents monitor kids on social media or their smartphone—beyond tech-based software solutions. There is a study by Pew Research that said, “48% of parents say they know the password to their teen’s email account, 43% are privy to their teen’s cell phone password, and 35% know the password to at least one of their teen’s social media accounts.” Even though limiting the use of the phone usage at certain times of the day maybe effective, parents also reported that they friended their child on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter as a way to stay connected and virtually check-in. This mainly happened with the younger kids that started to get their first phone through the age of 10-15. In an article for CBS News titled “Should Parents Snoop on their Kids Online?, ” by Eliene Augenbraun explored the pros and cons of the question that every parent asks at some point. Augenbraun interviewed Caroline Knorr, parenting editor for Common Sense Media, who discussed one of the biggest problems in monitoring children online. “Kids know technology better than their parents do.

If you rely on technology to monitor your kids or prevent them from engaging in online risks you are getting a false sense of security,” Knorr told CBS in an interview. “Any determined kid can defeat any technology you put out there. Even if the company says they can’t, they can.” This is why even when you are monitoring your kid, it’s so important to have discussions about digital safety. While some kids may challenge the software, knowing that a monitoring program is in place also might cause other kids to think before they post but this may cause an act of rebellion/usage of another phone. The software may actually hold them to a higher accountability. Keeping kids safe means educating them. Social media is the ideal place for cyberbullying, and this should be a parent’s primary concern. Talk to kids about bullying. Tell them what is ok to post and what isn’t. Make sure they know all pictures are forever…even those that seemingly disappear on Snapchat. Always stress that personal information remains private.

And inappropriate messages and photos are not allowed. Empower kids to come to you if they are being bullied. The only way parents can help and advocate for their child is if the lines of communication remain open; Trust is vital. In the virtual world, ignorance can be the worst crime. Educate kids and teens to use common sense while on social media. And the monitoring method is up to you. That is why I believe parents should monitor the social media accounts of their children because it stops/ prevents cyber bullying, Limits the use of the phone usage at certain times of the day, keeps ages 10-15 off their phones and interactive with the outside world, but this will cause an act of rebellion/usage of another phone.

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