The Importance Of The Internet And Internet Safety

The Internet and Social Media: How Safe is it Really?
“There are more devices connected to the Internet than there are people on Earth” (Dodaro). This scary fact demonstrates our reliance on the Internet and how it consumes our lives. An aspect of the Internet that has grown exponentially is social media which is known as networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram. Although the Internet and social media have amazing advantages to our society such as being able to connect with millions of people around the world and creating new job opportunities, many people do not consider the negative effects of it. This is a growing problem in society because the effects social media is having on teens can ultimately impact their …show more content…
Internet use should be limited to teenagers who are under the age of eighteen because this is the age range where these issues lie since many of them are not being monitored. Parents need to teach their children how to safely use the Internet and understand the effects if they overuse it. This could ultimately prevent many of these issues if teenagers are taught about Internet safety before they ever use it. Many people believe social media is completely okay for children and teens to use because it is so useful and beneficial to them. They also think these things will never happen to their child but in reality, everyone is susceptible to these issues even if they rarely use the Internet. For example, a teenager may log in to Facebook once every few weeks but that does not stop a classmate from messaging them hateful things or posting on their wall to harass them. Teenagers need to be taught how to deal with these situations if and when they might occur because this one occurrence is enough to destroy a teen’s self esteem and fill them with self hatred or depression. No one is completely safe on the Internet and this is why parents need to understand the importance of Internet safety and the seriousness of these issues so they can teach their …show more content…
Children and teenagers are especially susceptible to these issues because social media is easily accessible to them and that is what everyone does. By overusing the Internet, teens are becoming more interested in communication online instead of having more communication offline which can lead to the development of Social Anxiety Disorder. Also cyberbullying is a huge issue because it has lead to teen suicide rates increasing and student grades getting worse. Overusing social media can lead to a snowball effect of issues that will impact a teenager their whole life; but, if we take action instead of ignoring the problems, we can teach children and teens how to safely use the Internet which could prevent these issues entirely. By spreading awareness to parents and their children, we are able to teach them how to properly use the Internet and how to monitor their children before these issues take place. In conclusion, social media use by children and teenagers should be monitored and limited and there should be more time spent educating parents and children about Internet safety which could ultimately prevent many of these issues from