How Can Children Learn About the Dangers and Benefits of Online Chatting?

If you close your eyes for a few minutes and recall the world 4 or 5 years ago, you will surely remember that families had strict rules for using tablets and mobile phones, and teenagers were the only age group allowed to use these devices. Various rules also existed to control this usage, but with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to online classes, tablets, laptops, and mobile phones reached the hands of children, and educational, sports, and even dance classes were held online. Children’s interactions with their friends also moved into this space, and continuous chatting, sending photos, and video calls became part of their daily activities. Everything happened so quickly that there was no opportunity to educate and raise awareness about the advantages and disadvantages of online chatting for children and teenagers. Many parents were even unaware of the dangers of online chatting. However, after some time, we witnessed various troubles stemming from the disadvantages of online chatting. These issues became the source of awareness, leading us to review the details on this topic today.

Learn More: Examining the Impact of Smartphones on Children’s Psyche

What Are the Disadvantages of Online Chatting?

It is better to first discuss the dangers of online chatting for all individuals to grasp the depth of the issue. In fact, chatting can be so harmful that it creates problems even for adults. Therefore, it can be seriously stated that online chatting is dangerous in some cases. Chatting with strangers and participating in chat rooms or conference rooms in online chatting can lead to various problems, which we address in this section.

• Security Risk: Remember that the identity of individuals in online chats is not clear. For this reason, some people can easily pretend to be someone familiar or even strangers inclined to connect, gathering useful information to exploit you. Data theft is one of the primary dangers felt in this type of entertainment.
• Inappropriate Content: Lack of supervision in online chatting increases the risk of exchanging inappropriate, pornographic content or information about deviant behaviors. Exchanging certain information causes serious harm to individuals’ minds and psyche, and its treatment is very time-consuming.
• Psychological Harm: Individuals may face humiliation, threats, and harassment in chats. Due to its written structure, chatting has a sharp and harsh tone, and people act very recklessly in expressing any sentence. As a result, the content of chats and written comments is very harsh and sharp.
• Exploitation: Individuals can easily exploit information, photos, and emotions. For this reason, the online chatting environment is highly vulnerable.

Dangers of Online Chatting for Children

Online chatting can be dangerous for children in various areas. Perhaps the advantage of online chats is helping children connect with others and expand their social interactions, but remember that lack of supervision in this process can cause children to strengthen their interactions with anyone. However, on the other hand, these spaces may also pose risks. Children may be exposed to inappropriate content, harmful advertisements, strangers, and security issues. Sometimes, individuals with sexual disorders exploit children, providing them with inappropriate content or insisting on obtaining photos and videos from the child. Over time, these issues can cause serious harm to the child. However, restricting online chatting for children these days is not feasible, and the only way to care for them intelligently is to use the Imino application. This way, you can monitor their usage effectively without the child’s awareness and discreetly take control of the situation.

Dangers of Online Chatting for Teenagers

One of the problems that most families with teenagers, especially during puberty, face is continuous chatting at any time and place. If you’ve noticed, teenagers use online chatting systems without considering lunch or dinner times, outings, or family and friend gatherings. Undoubtedly, continuing this trend creates specific problems. Understanding these concerns led to the development of the Imino application with the collaboration of programming and design elites. For greater awareness of the risks to teenagers, it’s worth knowing that the risk of their interactions with strangers is high. Teenagers’ inexperience is the main issue that can lay the groundwork for moral and behavioral deviations, as you don’t know who their chat partner is!

A notable point is the ridicule of teenagers, causing psychological and emotional harm. The chat environment, especially with strangers or distant acquaintances, is such that there is no emotional attachment or concern for supporting the other party, and realities are expressed with a touch of harassment. Sometimes, due to carelessness, we witness bank account theft, home burglary, or exploitation of family members! This happens because teenagers, due to inexperience and lack of proper education, recklessly share information with others.

In this context, the role of pedophiles or sexual predators cannot be denied! Many individuals, under the guise of a friend or someone of the opposite sex, roam in virtual spaces to initiate chats with individuals in this age group. Once this connection begins, various forms of exploitation, misguidance, and even addiction occur. Thus, it is evident that parental supervision is necessary even during this period. You must continue managing their use of virtual spaces and take awareness seriously, in line with your children’s growth, to navigate this stage without various problems.

Questionnaire for Parents Regarding the Use of Online Chatting

This text is about the importance of holding conversations with children about their online activities. These conversations provide parents with useful information about their children’s online activities, allowing them to consider:

• Do we need a parental control application to discreetly monitor and manage our children’s performance? Is there a comprehensive and reliable application in this field?
  • In response to these questions, it must be said yes! Imino is a practical application that, with its features, can support your children across all age groups to lead a calm, happy, and safe life.
• Are the games and apps that children use age-appropriate?
  • In this regard, you should have friendly conversations with children and teenagers. Writing an agreement for the use of permitted games can be a good idea in this context. Using control applications like Imino can also assist you in enforcing these rules. Setting phone usage hours or limiting advertisements are all important parts of this practical application.
• Do children know anything about the security and privacy settings of apps?
  • Your duty as an intelligent parent is to educate teenagers and children. You must provide information about the potential risks of neglecting these settings while creating a safe environment for conversation and education. Privacy protection and its importance are critical topics to address.
• What do the profiles chosen by children and teenagers in games and apps reveal about them? What meaning does their image or avatar convey?
  • The specific atmosphere of peer groups sometimes causes a child to unknowingly use problematic symbols. This issue is also very prominent among teenagers. Your duty as a parent is to follow up, investigate, and raise awareness. In the stages of follow-up and investigation, you can rely on the Imino application.

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Advantages of Online Chatting for Children and Teenagers

So far, we have provided information about the dangers of online chatting for children and teenagers. However, balanced judgment is one of the most important parameters of a wise parent. Therefore, you must understand the advantages of online chatting for children and teenagers. These advantages and their impact on the minds of children and teenagers mean that no parent today imposes unreasonable restrictions on the use of online chatting. Instead, using intelligent and technological solutions is an excellent alternative in these circumstances.

• Strengthening Social Relationships: Online chatting enables children and teenagers to engage in virtual conversations and connect with friends and peers. This plays a significant role in improving social relationships and strengthening friendships.
• Acquiring Communication Skills: Online chatting provides children and teenagers with an excellent opportunity to improve their communication and writing skills. They can express their thoughts and feelings in words in the best possible way and gain greater skill in conveying their true emotions.
• Participation in Groups and Shared Activities: In some platforms that offer online chatting, children and teenagers are divided into interest-based groups to pursue a specific goal. Social interactions and teamwork are also strengthened in these contexts.
• Information Exchange: As parents, we may be far removed from the world of children and teenagers. However, it’s worth knowing that information exchange in their personal world, engaged with their age group, has a tremendous impact.
• Access to Educational Resources: Some platforms with online chatting systems provide access to educational resources. Sometimes, children and teenagers take the initiative and send each other useful educational content. Personal education is also part of the charm of this space.
• Connection with Family Members: Creating an online chat group specifically for family members fosters a closer bond and guides children into a safe environment. This type of connection can increase family cohesion and mutual understanding.

Considering all these advantages, it is evident that a 100% restriction is not a practical approach. Therefore, you must use supervision and management methods to create a safe and informed environment.

Solutions for Educating Children on Technology Use

After examining all aspects of the issue, it’s time to determine how to educate children about using online chatting. You must prepare their mindset for principled use.

• Tell your children that digital devices are exactly like their home and room. Therefore, they must obtain parental permission to use mobile phones and tablets.
• Try to familiarize children with the concept of potential exploitation and specify their private body parts. Inform them that under no circumstances should they take and send photos or videos of themselves, their home, or personal spaces at someone’s request without parental knowledge.
• From childhood and younger ages, establish rules to manage the use of technology and friendly chats. Imino is with you to control the daily usage time of tablets and phones.
• Be a good role model yourself! You are a parent and a good example for children and teenagers. So, chat in a calculated and scheduled manner and share a safe chatting environment with your children.
• Create a technology agreement for each child. In this agreement, specify the child’s daily responsibilities and how much time online chatting occupies.
• Talk to children about keeping personal and family information confidential and inform teenagers about potential dangers.
• Take guidance toward appropriate directions seriously. By enrolling in specific websites and designated groups, try to ensure that the entertainment of online chatting leads to useful education and entertainment.
• Provide age-appropriate education about adult and pornographic content, in consultation with a psychologist in this field.
• Be logical and patient. The process of educating and monitoring children’s performance is highly important, and you cannot implement this supervision with insecurity, fear, arguments, or punishment under any circumstances.

Some Golden Tips

✍️ When it comes to online chatting or conversations, some discussions that seem healthy and normal can be very dangerous. Some children, thinking they are safe behind their phones and the internet, freely talk with strangers about any topic.
You must know that continuous communication with your children is a key element! For assurance, have casual and ongoing conversations about their online activities and friendships.

A few important and essential tips to protect your child that you must follow:
1️⃣ Get familiar with the apps and platforms they use and stay updated about the potential dangers of these programs.
2️⃣ Regularly talk about online security and privacy and emphasize the importance of being cautious in the digital world.
3️⃣ Teach your child to be careful about sharing personal information and help them understand the consequences.
4️⃣ Set rules and boundaries for online behavior and lifestyle and create a safe and structured environment.
5️⃣ Encourage them to inform you about any suspicious or upsetting interactions and pay attention to their behavior.
6️⃣ Try to be a positive role model for them by practicing healthy online habits.

✅ If you are also worried about your child’s digital life, Imino is here to help you!
🔸 We hope these tips help you guide your child to use their mobile phone correctly and safely. If you have any questions or comments, share them with us.

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Imino, a new solution for children’s use of smartphones