Mrs. Bola Olajide (not real names), a mother of two teenage boys, was shocked beyond words when she discovered that her children, aged seven and nine, had been watching sexual images on the Internet, with her I-Pad. It was a stunning discovery that shattered the peace of her Christian home. She was more devastated when further interrogation of the boys revealed that they habitually browsed pornographic websites at night, while their unsuspecting mum snored in bed.
Reports indicate that many teens now live in an adult world they created through various social network sites like MySpace, Facebook, Whatsapp, Badoo and dating sites, which encourage them to share both visual and video contents. Investigations revealed that some of these networks have become inundated with “profiles” that lead to porn sites. Large amount of postings on some of them lead an unsuspecting user to subscribe to porn sites.
Sadly, most parents seem to be lost in their slumber, while their children wander deeper in the wilderness of perdition. While parents turn blind eyes, their teenagers sell themselves cheaply on social media as a platform for self-expression and as a way of gaining acceptance from their peers.
Aside the dangers of watching adult contents, the desire for expression and acceptance drive these kids beyond the borders of reason, prompting them to reveal too much information (TMI), and exchange personal and sexy photographs with strangers.
At a Parents Forum organized recently by Trinity International College, Ofada, Ogun State, discussions dwelt on the potential dangers of over-exposure of children to social media. Many parents were stunned by the revelations made by the facilitator of the programme, Solid Foundation Ministry, based on real-life experiences of working with teenagers for over 15 years.
The Director of Education of the school, Mrs. Oluwafunmilayo Aderinoye, said most parents expose their children unnecessarily to the world of social media without monitoring them from running wild in their Internet adventure.
“There is no limit to what the children can watch when they are left with electronic devices,” she said. “Parents don’t even know what these children are watching. They don’t know the people the children are interacting with. Some children have phones that parents don’t even know how to operate. It is more like a distraction to these children. A collaboration of parents and the school is necessary to keep the children in check.”
Aderinoye said unnecessary exposure of children to social media affects their academic performance. According to her, they spend more time on their phones than they do on reading tables.
“Some of the children could also have moral issues because of the wrong exposure they had,” she warned. “When they are left with I-Pads, I-Phones and other devices, there is no limit to what they would explore. It will have ripple effects on their moral and their career in general.”
Trinity College promotes digital learning through the use of interactive boards and plans to install a resource centre for students’ use. However there should be a balance to ensure that schoolchildren do not misuse the tools of social media.Trinity College strictly monitors students’ exposure to the Internet. With the Wi-Fi connections in the school, teachers always monitor the students whenever they use the Internet within the school premises. “Basically, the Wi-Fi in the school is for project work. Whenever the students are on the Internet, there must be teachers supervising what they are doing”,
A member of the Board of Director, TRICOL, Dr Ranti Adedayo, told Education Review that children face more challenges and temptations from the social media.the attitude of children that access pornographic sites from their parents’ forum. We encouraged parents to be a friend of their children on Facebook, to enable them monitor the activities of the children.
the ban on the use of mobile phones and I-Pads in most schools was a step taken to avoid distractions to students. allowing students the use of mobile phones for social media activities in school would affect their study time.
One of the lead presenters, we noted that children are masters of their parents in the school of social media. According to him, children teach their parents how to operate some of the hand devices. Sadly, having access to their parents’ phones has made a significant number of teenagers to electronically post nude, semi pictures or videos of themselves online.
the growing popularity of Facebook has made it an addiction to several people. some people had become so obsessed with Facebook that they check their account first thing every morning before having their morning prayers.
I deduce that teenagers also teem in social networks because nothing is off-limits. To stupefy their curious parents, they had introduced their own social media lingos for chatting with their online friends. Some of the popular languages include: lol (laugh out loud), GNOC (get naked on camera), PAW (parents are watching), TTYL (talk to you later), ILU (I love you), POS (parent over my shoulder), NIFC (naked in front of computer), YASS (you are so sweet), ASAP (as soon as possible), muaaaaaaa (kisses), among others.
While adducing the disadvantages of mobile phones to students, a clergy working with the Post Primary School Management Board, Enugu State, Rev. Fr Paulinus Ogara, said some postings on social media ‘contain insidious propaganda and certain advertising campaigns that can warp the conscience and alter cherished views and values’.
“We need to censor the films our young ones watch. We also need to limit the use of mobile phones to children within certain age brackets. Since the risk is appreciably higher among children under 16, they should use mobile phones only when necessary,” he said.
Some teenagers, who didn’t want to be identified, said they were lured into various groups on social media by their friends and peers. “If you chose not to join, but your friends do join, they start sending you invitations to join as well”, one of them said.
A concerned parent, Mrs. MaryVal Ozigbo, whose son is studying at Trinity College, said she had maintained the rule of no television on school days. “I think parents should focus on timing and be connected with their children. Be your children’s best friend. Let them be confident to speak to you on any issue any time”, she said.
Ozigbo said her son has no Facebook account. But when this reporter reminded her that some of the kids play smart by using false names on social media, she said: “I can vouch for my son. He is not on Facebook. My son at his age has a phone but he has no SIM card. Our agreement is that he will get a SIM card once he gets seven A’s in his Junior WAEC exam”, she added. She said her family has an Internet facility and a library where every activity on the computer is strictly monitored.
“We don’t allow the use of I-Phones or send messages. He chats with his school friends. I don’t know what that chat is called. But I know he chats with his schoolmates, using my phone.”
Ozigbo frowned at giving children under the age of 13 a phone with a SIM card. She urged parents to spend their money on valuable things, and not on these devices that could distract their concentration. “I know a parent that collects phones from children at 10.00pm. That is the rule they set”, she said.
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