With the amount of new technology out there today, it can be difficult to track where your children are spending their time, and more importantly, who they are talking to. With social media, text messaging and instant messaging, there are a lot of things a parent and children need to look out for, but if equipped with the right knowledge about text and online communication, the process does not have to be stressful or nerve-wracking for parents or children.
Types
There are three main types of electronic communication teenagers can utilize: text messaging, instant messaging and social media. None of them are going away, and with more and more teenagers using these as their primary communication tools, it is best to understand what they are and ways to protect the teens using them.
Features
Social media, text messaging and instant messaging all offer their own unique methods of communication. Social media is usually contained on a website like Facebook or MySpace. Here, teens can post information on their own profiles or on the profiles of others. Things that can be posted include photos, text, videos and links to websites. Text messaging is primarily communication from phone to phone--with the ability to send text, photos and video. Instant messaging is generally communication from computer to computer; text can be sent using this technology, but users can also do video chats and send files and images to one another.
Safety Concerns
With the advent of these technologies, there are many concerns involved with their use. With instant messaging and social media, children can receive images and text a parent may not want them to see. There is the chance of cyberbullying, where a teen may be harassed by other teens in an online medium. With both, there is also the chance that teens may be talking to people, like child predators, who would want to harm them and may lead them into an unsafe scenario. With text messaging, there is the chance teens may send sexually explicit videos or images to one another, images that may not end up where the teen necessarily wants or expects. Along with this, text messaging can also be a way for teens to bully and harass one another.
Prevention/Solution
The best thing any parent can do to ensure the safety of their children is to be involved in their life. Just as with any other activity--school, sports--a parent should know what their children are doing when online or texting. Having open and honest discussions with children about the threats associated with these forms of communication is a good practice. Make sure your children know it is all right to be on social media, to text message and to instant message, as long as they are safe and let you know if anything happens that is unsafe or threatening. There is also software that allows parents to monitor online and cell phone usage, such as My Mobile Watchdog for cell phones and online tools that can be found at http://staysafeonline.org.
Benefits
Despite the threats and media coverage of them, there are still many benefits to text messaging, social media and instant messaging. It can be a way for teens to interact with friends and family, it can be a way for shy teens to communicate with others and it can be a way for teens and family to share experiences and information in a quick and easy format. These forms of communication are around, and are not going anywhere soon, so as long as teens and parents understand how to stay safe while using them, they can be a useful and important form of communication.
