Kids today are often online. The internet can be a great place for knowledge and learning, though it can also be a place where there are areas that kids should not go into. Parental help is needed for online risks for kids.
There is a need for parental help for kids who are always online. However, most kids rarely talk about their online activities to their parents. One reason is that kids and adults have different views about what being online means. This can lead to misunderstandings about what safe internet surfing means as well.
Pamela Wisniewski is now an assistant professor of Computer Science at the University of Central Florida and formerly a postdoctoral scholar at Penn State. She has observed that parents and children have a miscommunication when it comes to internet surfing. For most teens, cyberbullying, sexual content and others online are just part of what is online. Most parents though view such things with more alarm and have stronger reactions toward them.
When teens encounter such reactions from parents, they would often talk less about it with them rather than open up about it. Wisniewski though has said that if ever teens would talk to their parents about such issues, they want understanding as well as guidance in how to handle them. She has said that this becomes a missed opportunity when parents overreact to the situation, according to Penn State News.
Parental reaction to the situation might make teens hesitate in telling their parents what their online experiences are. This can lead to teens being exploited by online predators and cyberbullies. Wisniewski has said that parental engagement can serve as a time to teach children how to safely view the internet, as Science Daily reports.
For the study, there were 136 participants. This comprised of 68 parents together with their teens. The study had them make a diary about their online experiences as well as fill out surveys. The study has found that parental help is needed for online risks for kids. A study has found that childcare kids are greatly stressed.
