Social Media and Parents – Use Caution During the Holidays
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Posted By: William Jackson on November 29, 2015 Social Media and Parents – Use Caution During the Holidays Holiday seasons open the doors to online engagement and interaction by youth, teens and young adults. The opportunity to “hookup,” “meetup,” and “shackup” during the holidays is accented by using Social Media to make those initial connections. The growth of Social sites is allowing behaviors to expand that can cause serious consequences in the future for youth, teens and young adults. The dating ritual is now digitized to where relationships are arranged around impersonal environments that stretch the imagination and expectations of those looking for love or sex online. The names of dating sites are indications of what to expect and the desires of those not looking for long relationships, they are seeking temporary pleasures that trample traditional relationships that lead to stable behaviors of dating and marriage. Sex is the goal not relationships. The holiday season brings new cautions for parents in monitoring their children, boys and girls and the potential to engage in relationships that can damage even young adults emotionally and mentally. Looking for something that is not as easily gained if a stable relationship is not developed. As I have blogged before that SM by teens and young adults are their primary means of sharing information and posting personal content. Parents should be prepared for the increase in digital connections over the holidays when school is out. Parents cannot allow Social Media to be a baby sitter for their children just as television should not be a substitute for parental engagement and teaching social skills. The access to dating sites is fairly easy to engage in because many youth and teens lie about their backgrounds or have older family member’s setup accounts for them thinking it is funny or cute. This is far from the truth and very dangerous on multiple areas of developing healthy relationships. Sites like TickMe allow middle and high school age youth and teens to finding out if someone likes them without the embarrassing risks of public rejection. Youth that are shy can even be active on Social Media by sites like Shy Passions for introverts that want to be active in dating, but looking for those of similar interests and social engagements. The reality and dangers of social media can be seen on sites like Flirt On where youth, teens and young adults can experiment with their sexuality in Meetups. This experimentation can potentially open doors to emotional and psychological manipulation in relationships that can damage the natural growth of youth and teens in selecting a stable mate or partner in life. I’m not judging or condemning these sites, but encouraging caution for parents to talk to their children about them. Parents may find it difficult to start a conversation about the use of technology and Social Media, but these conversations are important so parents can see where their children are mentally, spiritually, and psychologically. The holidays are for family gatherings, spending time with friends and reinforcing healthy relationships. It has become a time for caution as well because of the potential for digital dangers. Looking at the controversy of Ashley Madison and the hack that happened, the large scope of the event has shown the dangers of personal digital information on these sites: Jack Mirkinson, 2015 “The terrifying unanswered questions of the Ashley Madison hack,” Quote:”we have decided that the pleasures and conveniences of technology far outweigh the risks inherent in handing over vast quantities of private information to mostly unaccountable entities.” When the hack happened it reverberated across the Internet, not just nationally, but internationally. The potential dissemination of names, email addresses, and account information on a site that was setup as a “dating site,” but turned out to be much more where adultery was the goal and the flavor of those looking for encounters. Parents can never say, “my kid knows better, (he/she) would never do that,” because kids are doing it. Parents cannot laugh off the fact that access to these sites are a clear and digitally present danger. They challenge the morals, ethics and even spiritually that parents are trying to raise their children by standards of humanity. Other sites were affected, stolen were millions of users personal information, it was not reported about how many were potentially under 18 years of age, but indications are that underage sex could have been offered on those sites. Ashley Madison is just one site of hundreds if not thousands globally. Resources: Hollywoodlife.cm http://hollywoodlife.com/2015/08/19/josh-d... Links to Email Accounts http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-32... Social Media: Parents vs Teens Parents should spend more time with their kids and teens, direct parental contact is important and contact not through the Internet or cell phones. Communication is being lost between parents and their children, talking is being done through digital devices. Children and teens will post personal information online faster than thinking that they should not. Talking can save your child’s life and keep dangerous situations from happening. If ISIS or other terrorists can reach out from far off countries and recruit youth, teens and young adults here in the United States easily using Social Media, how easy do you think it is to entice teens and young adults who are willing to experiment sexually with virtually no risk of being caught, but have no clue of the long lasting effects of multiple partners, mental manipulations, sexual deviant behaviors and even emotional and spiritual consequences in the future. Parents must check Social Media access by their youth, teens and young adults before a knock on the door by law enforcement or a stranger looking for a child to have sex with. If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
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William Jackson
Educational Technology and Social Media Instructor, Edward Waters College South Carolina State University class of 1985 Member Since September 2008 |
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