Parental control on social networking sites

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Shrabani Mukherjee

24 January, 2012

In order to ensure that children do not get into trouble or grow up with incorrect values, parental control is a must. In the years gone by, TV used to be the gadget of this kind of control. Today it is the Internet and specifically the social networking media.

WHILE GROWING up I was never allowed to watch television except for the occasional children’s Disney shows during the holidays. There was a strict ‘no television’ rule in our house, which fuelled my yearning for films and cheesy Hindi tele series. The more my father forbid me to watch star movies and HBO, the more I would enjoy my afternoon lesson of getting to know Hugh Grant, Leonardo and Drew Barrymore. What my parents never realised was that the limits were the main reason why I was so interested in television. While television viewing is very normal nowadays, the Internet has taken its position with parents going paranoid over the sites the children are surfing and what they are doing in their Facebook profile.

Gone are the days when the youth used to keep their innermost secrets in the pages of a diary. These days the notebook of a youngster is their whole life and switching it on or reading anything is clearly a breach of privacy. While Indian parents are yet to come to terms with all the technological jargons, even they are also not comfortable with their wards spending time over the Internet. For children, whose parents understand everything from befriending someone over Facebook, to following someone over the microblogging site Twitter, it is difficult to keep their online life secret from their investigative parents.

As reported in usatoday.com, there are around 20 million Facebook users under the age of 18 uses the social networking site. As they are not mature enough, many do give out vital information like the address, and their contact numbers - attracting prospective stalkers and felons. Most of the parents allow their kids to go online only if they allow their parents to be a Facebook friend and also share their password. This way, the parents are able to ensure that the children are not giving away vital information that could be used by anyone.

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As 24 hours is not enough to keep tabs of their own social networking site and their childrens', in America personalised businesses have started to keep tabs on childrens' whereabouts in the virtual world and report it to the parents for a fee of $10 per month. When asked 11 percent of the parents say that they joined the social networking site to ‘spy’ on their children and 55 percent said they ‘want to keep an eye.’

Given the increase in the online crimes, the concern of parents has grounds, and if you are below 18 and your parents are asking for your password, there is no reason to freak out. Parents should also remember not to embarrass their children by writing something on the Wall or sending messages to friends. While television had no potential treats attached to it apart from knowing certain concept early, the Internet is a different ball game and one should recognise its risks.