The explosion of technology over the last couple of decades is just the start of a new symbiotic world. Today young kids and teens have become digital natives and they seem more likely to born with the computer chip implanted in their heads. They send and receive Messenger, Snapchat, Yahoo, WhatsApp messages on the fly and get to know about the news on Instagram and post their creative thoughts on Tumblr. Moreover, they love to count their followers on Vine and further share their short recorded videos in terms of stories and photos and on multiple social messaging apps. So, they love to spend time virtually rather than in “real life”. Therefore, apart from what all the teens and kids are doing online via mobile phones “digital natives’ teens are facing nightmares every day and yet they are hiding the facts from parents.
Study Says:
According to the study teenagers and young adults between the age of 16 -24 spend more than 200 minutes on their cell phone connected to the internet. Spending too much time on the digital world being digital natives teens are more likely to encounter with the risks or unpleasant experiences, it could be intentionally or accidentally. However, more parents freak out about the online incidents happens and less likely their teens tell them about it next time. Moreover, teens should consider taking help from their parents navigating the online dangers they are facing on the virtual world. Every young teens 1 out four times are facing the risky online situation and teens need to counter all the online vulnerabilities by discussing their parents. On the other hand, they are cases where teens themselves are victims! Witness! Are get involved in such activities where teens have found harming other teens online.
“Teens and kids online should learn and get to know how to deal or overcome from online dangers” author Pamela Wisniewski, Ph.D., of the University of Central Florida has written. “Yet teens think they can deal with these risks they are facing online without telling their parents then they should be, she further has written that in one of her study.
Researchers Findings at ACM Conference:
Researchers have presented their research at ACM Conference on Computer – Supported Cooperative work and social computing. They have cited some sobering, if unsurprising, statistics of different online risk young kids and teens are facing online by using cell phones and computer laptop and desktop devices connected to the internet. Let’s discuss all the online dangers teenagers are facing in every day.
Teens facing unwanted sexual solicitations
According to one of the researcher’s findings, almost 9% of young children and teenagers usually experienced sexual solicitation online. The adults in the shape of predators online usually target young kids, tweens, and teens and expose them towards sexual activities. They initially behave as friends and with the passage of time turned teens and tweens into sexting, share nude photos and videos in order to turn their minds towards the sexual activities. They do sexual solicitation forcefully online without the consent of the targeted teens via social media platforms and as well as by using dating apps like tinder dating apps. Because young teens are the easy target for online predators such as stalkers that always want to make victim young flesh online. Once young teens or kid get used of it then they ask for physical sexual activities in real – life.
Teens experiencing unwanted exposure to pornography
Today young kids and teens are obsessed with the smartphones and gadgets connected to the cyberspace and these mobile phones exposing teens to adult content. According to the researcher’s findings that they have presented at (ACM), almost 23% of teens are experiencing unwanted exposure to pornography. Teens that have cell phones and internet are more likely to get involved in the carnal content. Teens use multiple social media platforms where they can encounter with the sexually explicit content and at the end of the day teens become obsessed with the porn online and today pocket porn among teens is one of the biggest online hazards. When teens have access to the internet via cellphones, on the other hand, imagine a teen with porn addiction.
Facts & Figures:
1) Almost 93% of male teens exposed to adult content online before the age of 18 and 62% of teens
2) The average age of first encounters of male teens with sexually explicit content is 14 and 15 among female teens
3) 42% of female teens report all the exposure was involuntary
Teens facing cyberbullying & slut shaming
According to the researcher’s findings, 11% of teens online become the victims of online harassment and cyberbullying. Cyber predators love to victimize young kids and teens and harassment online is one of the most common nightmares for teens in the virtual world. All these dangers online and slut-shaming activities become possible for the predators online when young kids and teens are obsessed with the virtual world including social media apps and websites. All these online threats and nightmares we are discussing at the moment got shape when teens are virtually active 24/7. Simply, when teens expose themselves online to everyone with multiple activities ultimately nightmares online would chase them.
Teens get involved with romantic partners online
Instant messaging apps were quite dangerous for teens and now we got to know about the names of dating apps such as Tinder and Snapchat. So, almost 8% of teens and tweens usually met with a romantic partner online. Dating apps are pushing teens to get involved with romantic partners online without knowing them in real life. Teens and tweens nowadays secretly use dating apps and websites to have a blind relationship with strangers online. Therefore, the percentage of uncommitted sexual activities are on the rise and parents remain idle to whom teens are dating online and in real-life and often accidents happen at the end of the day when teens get cheated, humiliated and even get rapped. Stalker and sexual predators are quite active in the digital world and they always try to trap young teens and tweens online.
Why digital Native teens facing Nightmares online?
The latest technology in terms of cell phones, gadgets and computing devices connected to the internet is undoubtedly unavoidable. On the other side, parents are willingly providing teen’s access to the virtual world in order to make their kids digital natives and underestimating how teens become the victims of nightmares online. Teens send and receive text messages, do chats conversations, share multimedia and do audio and video calls with strangers online. Young teens and tweens are used to sharing personal photos and videos and let other people breach their privacy online. Therefore, sexual solicitation, bullying online, sexual harassment, slut-shaming, pocket porn, and disturbing content have surrounded teens online all day long. When all the above-mentioned factors come to gather teen’s more likely to face nightmares online and yet they don’t want to share with the parents due to some odd reasons.
How can parents protect teens from digital nightmares?
Parents have to get to know about teens and kids have hidden digital activities. Digital parenting is one of the best and only solutions for parents to protect teens online against the nightmares in terms of stalkers, bullies online, sexual predators and plenty of others alike. Parents can use cell phone parental control app on kids and teens mobile phones and get to know about all the secret activities of teens within no time. Mobile phone parenting app empowers parents to monitor social media logs in terms of text messages, text conversations, and shared media files, audio, and video conversations and last but not the least sent/received Voice messages.
Moreover, parents can record and listen to the live phone calls with the use of a secret call recorder of the parental monitoring app. Further, you can use it for sent or received text messages. However, parents can monitor screen activities of teens in real –time. You can use the live screen recording app and can make short videos of the screen and get to know what teens and tweens activities have performed secretly. Parents can monitor on-screen trendy social messaging apps, passwords used, browsing activities, YouTube screen monitoring and plenty of other alike. Moreover, parents can track the GPS location of teens if teens have made plans for a date with a stranger. You can track current and exact location and even can mark safe and dangerous areas for teens.
Furthermore, the mobile phone monitoring app allows parents to remotely control teen’s activities on their cell phones and gadgets. Parents can easily block text messages, incoming cell phone calls, installed apps and even block the access of the internet on the target device.
Conclusion:
No matter what parents have to deal with the digital horrible reality and they need to protect teens from the digital nightmares. The rise and rise of technology and the virtual world are pushing teens towards the digital dangers. Therefore, digital parenting these days is the lifeline for youth.
