So, if you have been looking in on the UK news you may have seen that the government are planning on banning social media for under 16s. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2kydl0zqeko
Whilst action towards protecting kids online is commendable, I don’t really know how successful it would be. Facebook, for example, has so many accounts that parents created for their children, to bypass the already existing regulations. Where there are child accounts stating the person is in their 20s, when they are maybe 11/12 years old. All so that the child could ‘play games’. So as much as going straight to kids is a good idea, there needs to be education to the parents.
You can also guarantee that kids and teenagers know how to work all of the household tech better than their parents. Which is why the government believe that a ban is essential. But with social media being banned, there will be plenty of other sites with instructions on how to get round the ban. So that does need to be considered
Ultimately I do think the education needs to be with the adults. Understand the risks if you break the ban, and why it’s important for your child to be able to safely navigate the internet. Because adults, even ones with no kids, are falling for scams, fake articles, and give their details away too easily. Internet security needs to be aimed at everyone.
Maybe a good idea would be like ‘e-learning module’ kind of thing. Where when you access an app, you have an unskippable window, with a wee game or video to promote safety. It might be something like, not standing for abuse online and how to deal with it, or not to share your bank details online anyone. Like it pops up every other day or so. That way it’s easy, it’s accessible, and helps teach people safe practice.
I don’t know what the answer is. I am apprehensive, but it is clear things need to change.
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