Technology | Children
Parents: Do You Allow Your Kids to Have Unrestricted Internet Access?
2 reasons why they should and 4 reasons why they shouldn’t
Why is the internet so damn addictive? Especially social media.
It’s because it’s designed to be, and it’s full of infinite possibilities.
But should children have unrestricted access? Let’s take a look at the points for and against.
YES
They might miss out on things
According to this, 95% of children aged 3 to 18 have home internet access. If all their friends are doing things online, they could end up missing out.
It’s better to teach them self-regulation
I’m no expert in parenting, but isn’t it a good idea to teach children how to be self-disciplined? Teach them the importance of work and fresh air. Maybe they will develop the ability to regulate their own internet usage.
NO
They might see age-inappropriate things
How much of the web is porn? According to this, the figure varies from 4% to 30%. But let’s take the halfway point and say it’s 17%. That means there’s about a one in six chance of a child seeing something they’re too young to understand.
Of course, what they see depends on what they’re looking for. A 13-year-old boy is much more likely to be looking for porn than a 5-year-old. But people sometimes stumble upon things they weren’t looking for. And there are some things you can’t unsee.
They might get groomed by a sex offender
According to this, online grooming crimes in the UK have increased by 70% in the last three years. Between April 2020 and March 2021, 5,441 Sexual Communication with a Child offences were recorded. And what about the ones that don’t get reported?
They might waste too much time online
The internet is addictive, especially social media. And that’s because it’s designed to be. Facebook gets its money from adverts. The more time people spend on it, the more adverts they see, so the more money Facebook gets. So it’s designed to keep us hooked on it, checking it as often as possible and scrolling endlessly.
Left unchecked, this could mean a child spends most of their time looking at a screen. When I was a child in the 1980s, I spent much of my free time outside.
They might get bullied
Take a look at these stats from dosomething.org:
About 37% of young people between the ages of 12 and 17 have been bullied online. 30% have had it happen more than once.
95% of teens in the U.S. are online, and the vast majority access the internet on their mobile device, making it the most common medium for cyber bullying.
23% of students reported that they’ve said or done something mean or cruel to another person online. 27% reported that they’ve experienced the same from someone else.
Girls are more likely than boys to be both victims and perpetrators of cyber bullying. 15% of teen girls have been the target of at least four different kinds of abusive online behaviors, compared with 6% of boys.
About half of LGBTQ+ students experience online harassment — a rate higher than average.
Instagram is the social media site where most young people report experiencing cyberbullying, with 42% of those surveyed experiencing harassment on the platform.
Young people who experience cyberbullying are at a greater risk than those who don’t for both self-harm and suicidal behaviors.
83% of young people believe social media companies should be doing more to tackle cyberbullying on their platforms.
60% of young people have witnessed online bullying. Most do not intervene.
Only 1 in 10 teen victims will inform a parent or trusted adult of their abuse.
4 out of 5 students (81%) say they would be more likely to intervene in instances of cyberbullying if they could do it anonymously.
What do you think? Should parents allow children to have unrestricted access to the internet? Or do boundaries need to be set?
