Social Media Impact on Children: Now even children below 13 years of age will be able to create an account on WhatsApp. For this, the company has recently started the parent-managed account feature. In this, parents will be able to link their children’s account to their device. The advantage of this will be that the children’s conversations will be monitored by their parents. On one hand, in many countries, social media is being banned for children below 16 years of age, on the other hand, WhatsApp has brought this feature for small children. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using such a feature and what effect will it have on the minds of children? To know this, ABP News has talked to psychologists and IT experts. Let us know what he has to say about this.
Many dangers despite parental control
Prabir Jana, IT Manager of Macure Hospital, says that parental control reduces the exposure, but due to continuously advancing technology, encrypted and disappearing content etc., the danger is not completely avoided. By talking to children, they can be told about these dangers.
Detection became difficult due to encryption
Nowadays, chats on many other platforms including WhatsApp are end-to-end encrypted. In such a situation, it becomes difficult to detect the content of chats. Due to this it is not possible to know to whom the children are talking. Apart from this, there is also a greater risk of children getting trapped in scams. Children trust people easily and they do not know that real apps never ask to share code. Such scams spread rapidly on WhatsApp, Snapchat and Discord etc. Therefore, tell them not to share any code with anyone.
Scammers target children in these ways
Prabir Jana told that scammers and fraudsters target children through fake profiles. Initially they will praise someone in public groups or chats and then start sending direct messages. They want to establish friendship by gaining trust and then demand photos and videos. Similarly, scammers lure people with rewards in exchange for giving the OTP and want to extract personal information by imitating any of their friends or influencers.
What are the methods of prevention?
- Always use Apple Family Sharing or Google Family Link. In this, many options are available including app approval, setting screen time limit and filtering content.
- Create a parent-managed account for children on WhatsApp. With this, the child will have control over the incoming messages and calls.
- Enable teen-parent mode and disable location sharing and disappearing messages features on every app, including Snapchat and Instagram.
- Always use a strong password on your device and keep screen-time enabled.
What is the effect of social media and messaging platforms on the minds of children?
Nowadays children start using smartphones and messaging apps from an early age. This affects their social media emotional development. Talking about this, Arpita Kohli, psychologist and counselor at PSRI Hospital, says that messaging platforms like WhatsApp affect the social and emotional growth of the child. Using these reduces the child’s face-to-face interaction. Due to this, their ability to understand emotions, develop communication skills and build social relationships is not developed. Therefore, it is very important to have parental guidance while using these platforms.
Regarding WhatsApp’s parent-managed account, Kohli says that it can help children learn to be safe and responsible in the online world. Due to this account, children will not interact with unknown people, but if screen time is not limited then children can become completely dependent on digital communication.
What advice for parents?
Giving advice to parents, Kohli said that instead of keeping a strict eye on their children, parents should talk openly. They should keep clear rules for screen time while telling them about online safety. Also, children should be told who they can trust. It is also important to tell children why they are being monitored.
Do parental controls reduce the dangers of the digital world?
In response to this, experts say that this reduces the risks of cyber bullying. Parental control on apps like WhatsApp makes the digital environment safe. Along with this, it is also important to tell children about online safety. If a child starts keeping his phone hidden or there is a change in his behaviour, then parents should consider it as a warning sign. It means that someone is harassing the child. If any change is seen in the child’s sleep, mood and behavior after using social media apps, then parents should talk to him and understand his concerns.
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You may be using WhatsApp daily, but may not be aware of these features, start using them from today itself.
