In today’s interconnected world, many children have created social networking accounts of various websites in order to communicate with their friends or to meet people with common interests from all over the world. With the rise of social networking platforms and devices such as smartphones and computers being ubiquitous, it is difficult for parents to prevent their children from creating social networking accounts. Hence parents try to get the passwords to their children’s accounts, especially for those aged below 18 as they feel that their children are not yet mature enough to understand the risks of the internet and to ensure their safety …show more content…
With this personal space, children are able to learn how to be independent from their parents and are able to develop as an individual in our society that values autonomy. Children will be able to make their own decisions and discover who they are as a person, with social networking sites providing them with the opportunity to make friends with different people from many different backgrounds and interests. From there, children are able to see what kind of things interest them and are able to experiment, from a very young age, with the things they enjoy and develop into a well-rounded individuals who have tried many different things. Hence, parents should not be allowed full access to their children’s social network accounts as it provides children with the privacy they need and it is a place where they are without the constant pressure from their parents to be a certain individual who has to fit the mould of what their parents expect them to …show more content…
Children who are too young may not know how to use the internet safely and may give out personal information which puts them at risk, such as their home address or school, leading to many internet predators following them home or even kidnapping them. Many internet predators also convince young children to meet with them, posing as young kids or teenagers sharing common interests. Hence, parents would want their children to be safe and want full access to their children’s accounts to ensure that they are not having conversations with such strangers. However, there are also other ways to go about ensuring their child’s safety without infringing upon their children’s privacy or freedom, such as talking to them and inculcating the knowledge of cyber wellness in them from a young age. This can ensure that children will be careful while still having their own privacy on their social media