While digitalization is becoming more widespread day by day, families are also getting their share from the negative effects of this situation and are looking for ways to protect their children from the harms of social media.
According to the data of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), 85 percent of our country uses the internet, while 81 percent is actively involved in social media and spends 3 hours a day on these platforms. The fact that 5,7 percent of social media users are younger than 17 years old causes many question marks in parents. Many parents are exploring ways to protect their children from the negative effects of the digital world, such as cyberbullying. Communication Professional and Trainer Gamze Nurluoğlu, drawing attention to the concept of digital parenting, evaluated the social media posts of adults that could harm children.
Emphasizing that the digital world creates the greatest need for admiration and focus problems in children, Gamze Nurluoğlu said, “Children in the developmental age are more affected by these factors. Parents have great responsibilities at this stage. However, it is not enough to limit the use to protect children from the negative effects of social media. Families need to be conscious and regulate digital use and shape digital use as the child gets older.”
“Social media accounts should not be opened on behalf of children without their consent”
Communication Professional and Trainer Gamze Nurluoğlu said, “Most of us share photos of our private life on social media. While doing this, there are parents who include not only their own privacy, but also the privacy of their children. In fact, we see that an account has been opened in the name of his children and used in his name. This situation, called sharingnting, is a wrong behavior model. Because expressing children's information such as school-nursery and sharing their photos creates a digital footprint. As the child's digital identity is initiated without their knowledge, it becomes more difficult to manage as the person gets older. The child may also be exposed to cyberbullying due to parental sharing. For this reason, it is imperative that parents gain awareness and turn into conscious digital parents.”
“Digital parents become role models for their children through their own use”
Communication Professional and Trainer Gamze Nurluoğlu, who said, “Families should not use their children as a means of interaction on social media,” explained the concept of digital parenting as follows:
“Digital parents ensure that children can continue their social, emotional, psychological, mental and physical development by keeping them away from the negativities of the digital world. While encouraging the correct use of technology and guiding their children. For this, it is critical to be a good digital literate person. Digital parents do not prohibit or establish coercive control. It supervises the child with technology, raises awareness and protects it from risks.”
“Families should develop a digital supervision mechanism”
Communication Professional and Trainer Gamze Nurluoğlu, pointing out that families should develop a control mechanism in the digital age and prevent the harms of the digital world and focus on its benefits, gave the following advice to parents:
“Phone use should be shaped according to the age group. The child should not be able to access every app on the parent's phone. Special modes for children should be introduced on video platforms. When the child switches to his personal phone, parental controls should be activated. When they start using social media, they should be made aware of the risks and malicious people. They should be directed to applications where they can learn foreign languages and improve their skills. It is more important to focus on which application children use and for what purpose, rather than restricting them. This way, parents can turn technology into useful experiences for children.”