Social networks allow children to be open to the world. This might seem a good thing but it comes with a package of dangers and threats, which parents must be aware of. The infamous anonymous characters that lurk in the shadows of social networking sites are a threat to a child who happens to be conversing with this alias without knowing what's going on.
Parents must be attentive to a child's access to inappropriate content, which can come from recommended links and advertisements/information that other users publish. Therefore it is important for a parent to keep their eyes peeled as to which social network platform are their children registered.
Loss of privacy is a dangerously common thing on the internet. According to the Irish Examiner, when we register in a social network we leave our data, which becomes the property of said network. But also without realizing it, we put data of friends or relatives, not knowing if they agree that we upload their photos or talk about them.
When it comes to harassment, this can cloud over children so easily from their close surroundings that they won't even have a clue. This is called cyber-bullying and it serves the purpose of enticing children to get pictures of them. According to Kids Health, cyber-bullying can be seriously threatening for children and parents ought to ensure that their children are browsing the internet safely.
A branch of cyber bullying deals with impersonation. There are people who can create false profiles or from data that they know of other people, that can give some headache. It is important to teach children that they must be responsible and careful with everything they publish on the internet, both of them and others around them.
There are behaviors that are taught to children from the beginning of their education, related to respect for others, which are equally valid in the virtual world. Children and young people should be aware that in social networks they deal with people and since these social interactions are on a virtual level, they must take caution before bluntly leaking out sensitive information about themselves or their parents. It is also important to convey to them that everything is not valid on the internet and that once the information circulates over the network, it cannot be undone.
