Social Networking Dangers

Social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, can be useful to people who want to stay connected to a wider outside world.   They allow teens and adults to know what is happening in the day-to-day lives of friends and family nearby, as well as those who live thousands of miles away.   Families that have left the United States in search of jobs in other countries no longer have to feel isolated from the family and friends they left behind.   These same social networking sites, however, pose several threats to young children.   Children under the age of 16 should not be allowed to sign on to social networking sites.

Sixteen is considered the earliest age at which most teens can drive.   This is because their judgment and reasoning skills have finally come to resemble those of adults.   They understand cause and effect relationships, and they have learned how to handle complex responsibilities.   Prior to this age, most teens and tweens consider themselves in a very small capacity.   Many can not see long term consequences of their actions.   They do not understand how a poor decision today can affect them next month, or next year, or even ten years from now.   Posting inappropriate things on a social networking site, which comes with the permanence of the internet, could cause others to tease or bully them, result in suspension from school, bring on criminal charges and even affect their ability to get into college years down the road.

Social networking sites are also havens for those who like to prey on children.   The allow child predators anonymity to seek, groom, and then meet victims.   There have been numerous stories of children who have been led out of their homes to meet “kids” they met online.   The kids aren’t kids at all – they are adult child molesters.   In one case, a teen whose father was a police officer meet a “peer” in real life.   He wasn’t the teen church camp counselor he posed as online.   He was a child predator who raped and murdered the teen....