As high speed Internet access is gained more and more in Africa, parents need to be aware of the potential threat of bullying, cyber bullying, child porn and sexting by youth, teens and young adults.
From time to time parents need to check their children’s digital devices and also Google their children and even their friends. The more I speak at conferences, churches and with youth groups the more I see that information needs to be shared with parents and their children.
Too many parents are clueless that their children are involved in Sexting, Cyber bullying, and even digital Pimping. Yes I said digital Pimping.
The use of Social Media to post personal pictures, tantalizing videos,stimulating sexual photos and senseless party pictures may be fun and exciting, but they can hurt a teen and young adults e-reputation, e-personality and potentially their credit score.
You can forget being involved in politics, ministry and in some cases community service. If you “equipment” is posted for everyone to see that is almost and death sentence for community dreams.
Employers, educational institutions and even the military have the capability to check Social Media platforms to look for and find potentially harmful information that can stop college entrance, put a stop on receiving scholarships and internships, even prevent starting a promising career in a dream job making millions.
Parents should learn the terminology their children are using online to stop potential problems before they happen, giving their children a Smartphone is not very bright without talking about expectations for behaviors and actions. It is almost like giving the keys of their car to a unlicensed driver with no experience and no insurance.
The Internet contains the worst and the best of human information, but youth, teens and young adults will ultimately be attracted to the parts that are unhealthy and potentially dangerous.
The lure of excitement is more powerful than common sense. Sexting is a dangerous activity that children are participating in, they lack the maturity to understand that as a boy sending a (DP) “dick pic” or a girl sending a (Taco) or vagina picture has consequences that may involve law enforcement and being
accused in child porn.
Their reputations can be destroyed and that DP or Taco will never go away because information is backed up, archived and stored on servers someplace.
Traditional laws did not have to address the Sexting and childporn of the last 10 to 15 years, because of the Internet Congress has passed legislation to cover these issues and jails contain men and women caught in child porn and prostitution rings.
Parents need to understand they have a moral and ethical responsibility to talk to their children to set expectations, to reinforce values and morals about their conduct and actions online. The online world has dangers and tragedies seen when kids are kidnapped, sexually assaulted or sold as sex
slaves when enticed to meet strangers away from home.