Internet, not a safe place for youngsters

The Internet has become a substitute for a massive proportion of traditional entertainment. Adult human beings tend to surf the Internet, talk to close friends and relatives over apps such as messenger, WhatsApp and Viber, play games and even watch online videos to spend time.

The very thought of entertainment being just a click away has consumed the entire humanity with wonder and joy. Entertainment today can be packed in a small mobile phone, laptop or even television in the form of Internet.

 All these mediums combined have saved human beings from taking a long walk to the nearby DVD rental store, from going to the local library to dive for hundreds of journals for research, from travelling to the public telephone booths to call friends and relatives staying overseas, and so on.

But is Internet saving humanity? Perhaps it is helping the middle-aged people living on the earth today who have both of the experiences; people who acknowledge both the manual and the Internet world and know how to put a balance between the two.

What about the children of today's generation? The Internet is still a relatively new concept to the world since the public gained access to it in the late 1980s and the early 1990s. It has yet not adequately reached various countries, and only a specific segment of the world's population is acquainted with this technology. Since adults themselves are not aware of the proper usage of it, how can they pass on the appropriate learning to the children?

Children are encouraged to use the Internet from an early age. There are several reasons for this act of motivation. Many parents are just lazy to take their children out.  A lot of parents believe that playing outside is unhealthy and unsafe. They assume that making their children used to the Internet from such a young age makes the youngsters smart and intelligent. A great handful of parents, unfortunately, are not blessed with adequate time to take their children out and hence provide the little ones with Internet-installed technological instruments to spend time.

The Internet comes with a package of advantages. This is an excellent form of communication. It makes children less reluctant to talk to strangers as they converse with friends and relatives staying far from home. Communicating with individuals from such a significant distance even breaks the social barrier for timid children as they engage themselves in group chats and other online communicating tools. By talking to people all over the planet, children gain broad access to different cultures, traditions and nationalities that diversifies their minds and helps them develop a more acceptable behaviour towards other people.

Internet has also become a direct route to knowledge and children can now freely browse to retain relevant information related to their schoolwork that eventually helps them to excel in their academics. Many online apps and websites are present on the Internet that assist children with disabilities to improve their physical and mental conditions. Lastly, no one can deny the fact that this the era of technology and by utilising the pros of the Internet, children are developing immense technological skills that would be of great assistance in their future.

The question now is whether the pros or the cons weigh more. Along with the huge list of positives comes a wide range of repercussions that cannot be taken lightly. Children, without prior notice, come into contact with inappropriate content in a lot of websites that do not filter these materials out. It then depends on how the child handles the content. Children are curious, and apparently, a majority digs deeper to acquire more information about the improper subject and eventually do not know how to process and apply the knowledge retained. Examples include the encounter with inappropriate photos and videos which can stimulate incidents of different abuses and even decline in one's academic performance if not handled properly.

Children also tend to share personal information on Internet, be it to the entire public or just to a single person. Social networks can steal personal information and be shared with advertisers who then target the users with advertisements according to the user's choice. More disadvantages include spamming and virus threats.

Although communication is a crucial advantage of the Internet, online interaction with strangers is a vital concern. Before befriending strangers on several social networks, children do not investigate the person's background and getting in touch with the wrong person results in sexual abuse and cyberbullying. Children can also be induced to gamble and be victims of fraudulent financial transactions.

To avoid hostile consequences, parents must converse and interact with their children on regular basis. Parents must begin with the children's first association with technology and lay the foundations of safe Internet practices. They must explain the pros and cons of the Internet and give their children appropriate guidance on how to handle every single type of content. Online browsing can be done together during the initial phase.

The most significant concern of the usage of the Internet is the alarming rate at which traditional means of entertainment such as outdoor games and exercises are being replaced. Instead of presenting Internet as something fancy and more appealing, parents need to teach their children about the importance of outdoor activities and indulge the youngsters in practising traditional means of recreations. This can be done by restricting the children's use of the Internet to a certain duration per day and then taking them outside to a library or just for a simple stroll.

Technology always arrives with an array of its fallouts, but human beings must preserve the energy of nature. The Internet is not a safe place for young humans, and it is high time that children are guided through the appropriate process of using it.

The writer is a first year student of BBA programme at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), University of Dhaka. She can be reached at [email protected]