How would you like it if you have uninvited guests in your house every day from all over the world, all ages, types and shapes, some are who they claim to be and some are disguised, but all feel protected behind an internet device! This is happening right now at many homes. The exposure of a child behind a computer or a smart phone is beyond the comprehension of most parents. There is an entire hidden soundless world of friends and friends of friends and friends of friends of friends in all cities in all continents. There is all kind of fads; many are dangerous for your kids. This is an invasion and a daily non-stop assault. It could happen anytime anywhere to any child. Parental controls do not work like you think, the technology is changing so fast and as a parent you are not the expert at this, they are.In addition, any extreme parental control could be seen as you not trusting them and invading their privacy, after all at their young age they naively think they know everything and they are experts on people and life! Their perception of reality is different than yours.
I am not claiming to be an expert on the subject however based on my long time experience working with kids and parents I have some ideas to share. Here are some simple undeniable facts in a language kids understand, perhaps it will help them evaluate, and it may even lead to discussions: Always remember the Internet never forgets-It will follow you forever-As you are trying to be cool and accepted, don’t be stupid-YouTube clips, Facebook posting, Texting, videos, all could be seen by everybody-Skyping could be recorded and shared-Any Social media could be shared with all by all and reposted by others anywhere-It could be seen by millions-It could go viral-There are bad people out there young and old-Bad people young and old sometimes pretend to be good in order to deceive-Adults as well as Kids could be very cruel.
Dear parent, please deliver this message to your child “Self-defense and self-protection starts with you, take responsibility to protect yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally”.
Sifu/Guru: Kamille Louis