Social Media: The age of blind trust by Swastika

With the dawn of the 21st century, economy moved towards globalisation. Internet connectivity provided the much needed impetus to the process of globalisation. The world became better connected and immediately came the era of social media. Social media helped people from different countries and states to connect to each other. Privacy became a thing of the past. Sometimes people voluntarily put up their personal life online, and other times through hacking people evaded other people’s privacy. Gradually, social media from a safe space mutated into a dangerous platform. One of the main reason for this transformation could be associated with carelessness and blind trust.
Children, sometimes, are too young to understand the nitty gritty of social media. They are gullible and easily fall prey to false id and information. They also trust strangers blindly. Online predators misuse their trust and trick them into doing something dangerous. This is where the role of parents come.
Parents should actively engage themselves in their children’s life. They should gain their trust through regular conversation and not through pressuring them. Parents shouldn’t blatantly restrain their children from getting a social media account but instead make their children aware about its failings. Parents should carefully become an active part of their life without breaching their personal space, because that would lead to distrust and alienation. Parents should also regularly update their children about catfish, fake accounts and sexual abuse. They should also keep a tab in their children’s activity and any change in their behavior should be immediately dealt with. Parents should also encourage their children to take up different hobbies, such as dancing, painting, creative writing, reading, sports etc., this will ensure minimum social media presence. Parents should themselves set a precedent and not devote much hours on social media, especially in front of their children. Lastly, parents should trust their children but time and again should verify it.