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New technologies and the Internet have become a very useful tool for learning, communicating and having fun, but excessive use of them carries risks. In fact, there are many parents who find it difficult to capture the attention of their children when they have a mobile in their hands, and surely we all have in our heads the image of a minor in our environment who spends hours and hours with the ‘smartphone’.
Various reports have warned that the confinement caused by the pandemic increased the “dependence” of young people on new technologies, but with the arrival of the holidays, enjoying more free time means that children spend much more time, if possible, on mobile phones. , and that is where parents have to be vigilant to prevent their children from developing a dependency that could lead to addiction.
According to experts, the ideal is to let children use the mobile for one hour a day and never exceed three and a half hours in a row, although obviously, depending on their age, these hours should be changed. Parents also play a very important role in this task, since, as a mirror in which their children look, they should use their mobile phones less on vacation to avoid anxiety and enjoy free time. Despite everything, we must remember that there are several threats online. Among them the following:
-Inappropriate content, with the possibility that minors can access material that is not appropriate for their age, whether it is sexual, violent or related to topics such as drugs, weapons, gambling, etc. Children can come across this type of content while searching for information, playing games or watching a video, often appearing in the form of banners, pop-ups or advertising links that lead them to other web pages.
-Cyber bullying. Bullying or bullying has spread from the school to the virtual world. The access of children and adolescents to computers, mobile phones and tablets with an Internet connection facilitates attacks at any time and place and, moreover, with a greater possibility of anonymity. This type of harassment is carried out through text messages or emails, images, videos and other offensive posts on social networks.
-Sexting. It occurs when photographs, audios or videos of a sexual nature are sent, generally through the mobile phone. In this case, the essential for prevention is to make adolescents aware of the importance of never sending this type of content, even if the recipient is a trusted person, since they can never be sure of the use that will be given to the information. .
-Grooming. This term refers to the ‘online’ practices of adults who try to gain the trust of minors in order to obtain images of a sexual nature, harass them and even sexually exploit them. It is closely related to child pornography and pedophilia on the Internet. In the face of any problem of sexual harassment ‘online’, it is advisable to resort to the Group of Telematic Crimes of the Civil Guard.
-Disclosure of information. Whether consciously, in a chat conversation or on a social network, or unconsciously, through deception (scams, false offers, raffles or gifts), any minor can reveal their personal data ‘online’ without realizing the danger it poses. Ignoring emails that ask for information, never entering information such as postal address or mobile phone on any website, no matter how secure it may seem, or avoiding the use of applications or software that provide location, are some safe practices to avoid this problem.
Be that as it may, it is not possible to let your guard down on social networks, and much more when the users are the ‘little ones’ of the house.
2023-07-07 02:05:38
#Entertainment #addiction
