One of the greatest challenges facing parents in the 21st century is the Internet. In the “good old days”, parents could protect children from unwanted media content by switching channels on the television or checking in the closet for “bold” magazines. Now, we have 24/7 connectivity through computers and smartphones.
Schoolbooks made of paper and ink are being replaced by “Chromebooks.” Homework is delivered by e-mail instead of placed on the teacher’s desk. Our morning routine is often “shower, brush, check Facebook.” Being online is an inescapable part of our lives.
Chamath Palihapitiya, a former Facebook executive and the CEO of venture- capital firm Social Capital, said in a November interview that social media is damaging society. He added he would not let his own children use Facebook.
However, like every tool from the automobile to the pocketknife, they all are double-edged swords that offer benefits and detriments. But the Internet is unique because the dangers are often hidden and difficult to control, especially with children.
The State of the World’s Children report, entitled “Children in a Digital World,” published by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), reveals some fascinating statistics. The youth (ages 15–24) is the most connected age group. Worldwide, at least 71 percent are online compared with 48 percent of the total population. African youth are the least connected. Around 60 percent are not online, compared with just 4 percent in Europe. In 2015 age 10 was found to be the common age for a child to first own a mobile phone in the Philippines.
There is no question that the Internet is the greatest information tool in human history available at the push of a button. Nonetheless, there are dangers that are real and immediate. Unicef Country Representative Lotta Sylwander said, “Child pornography is a billion-dollar industry, and Filipino children are the ones being traded and exploited online.” But online sexual abuse, exploitation and cyberbullying, for example, are only some of the issues.
The positives of being online were also highlighted. Digital technologies are bringing opportunities for learning and education to children, especially in remote regions. It allows children to access information on issues that affect their communities and can give them a role in helping to solve them. This technology can deliver economic opportunity by providing young people with training opportunities and job-matching services, and by creating new kinds of work.
But the report also spoke of “privacy invasion” of young people and a “bedroom culture,” with online access for many children becoming more personal, more private, and less supervised.
Ultimately, the responsibility for the interaction of children and the online world is the parents’s. The reality, though, is sometimes parents are not there for their kids and are not as aware as they should be even in more developed countries. Social-media platforms like Facebook have been slow and reluctant to address their role in the situation. Now, the government may be stepping in.
All French children under the age of 16 will have to seek parental approval to open an account on Facebook or any other social-media network under legislation presented this past week. The requirement is part of a French bill that seeks to adopt data-privacy regulations.
The danger, of course, is that this could easily become just another step in government controlling and censoring online communication. However, children must be protected from the harms from the Internet. The question that we face is, how do we do it?