16:44 Gulf News: Parents are neglecting their role as guardians by exposing their children to threats online.
16:46 Samina Kausar: I agree and especially with working parents as they do not have much time to track and record what their children are doing on social media. In some cases, parents are not literate about IT and social networking sites, and that can also be a cause for losing control of children’s activities over the internet. Nowadays, high tech gadgets with 3G and 4G connections are common use for many children, so there is no difficulty in accessing any social networking site. That increases the responsibility of parents to prevent the online threats that their children may encounter on social media.
16:53 Adeyela Bennett: I disagree as I frequently post pictures of my children on social networking sites. However, it is important to implement certain safety mechanisms such as deactivating location to prevent tracking. At work, I deal with social media as well and as I work at a school, we often put up pictures from different fieldtrips that we have made. Again, I never give location as that may reveal a pattern of our weekly fieldtrip schedule.
16:53 Gulf News: Children should be allowed to make mistakes without the whole world knowing it.
16:54 Samina Kausar: I disagree as there is always a better way to teach our children about what is good or bad. That does not necessarily always mean to ‘learn by experience’. Children should be raised in such a way that they can decide on what’s right or wrong by themselves. Therefore, we should encourage them to come to us and share their thoughts.
16:57 Yesha Gondalia: Think of each piece of information as a drop of water and when a drop of water lands, it either absorbs, evaporates, or becomes part of a body of water and is indistinguishable from any other drop. However, this is not the case with online information as each drop of information is collected and stored in a personal virtual bucket. The information rarely disappears; rather, it accumulates, slowly building a comprehensive picture of your identity and life. Small details about your appearance, where you live, go to school and work will all add up, and become a cause of downfall. Then, those with good intentions as well as those with intent to do harm can dip into your virtual bucket and search for your information years from now.
16:58 Adeyela Bennett: I agree with that. Children should definitely be allowed to make mistakes without the whole world knowing it and therefore, I only post my children’s achievements and good news. I think it is unfair to post embarrassing pictures that can later come back and haunt you, that’s just wrong. I would never do that.
17:03 Gulf News: By exposing their children on social media, parents are preventing their children from future privacy.
17:04 Samina Kausar: I agree because the Internet is a public platform which everyone is connected to, therefore, it is important to set up privacy settings. Parents should also teach their children to think twice about the information they share on social media.
17:08 Yesha Gondalia: I completely agree with Samina. Social exposure now allows children to learn new things and make new friends and that is a step towards unity and mutual understanding.
17:12 Samina Kausar: There are privacy settings on every social networking site to protect ourselves and our children from online threats. However, it is important to learn about the effective use of those privacy settings.
17:12 Yesha Gondalia: When it comes to protection, there is very little that individuals can do other than to be conscious about the details that are revealed from our side. Exposure is a must in today’s society and we cannot go against it.
17:13 Adeyela Bennett: I disagree with that as there is the six degrees of separation, and that is especially true in the UAE. Everyone interacts with each other and it is impossible to be anonymous in today’s society. However, I do believe that there should be a limit on social media, such as 18 and above because children should simply not be allowed to have Facebook. As I said before, certain safety mechanisms should be in place such as to never give out your full name and to limit connections to friends and family only. Personally, I never accept invites from people I don’t know. And in terms of Facebook at work, we have limited it to people who are associated with the school, that way we have limited the sphere of influence.
17:14 Gulf News: Posting pictures or videos of children online is just part of the evolution of how we document their lives.
17:15 Samina Kausar: I agree because nowadays, people simply prefer keeping an online portfolio, which makes data portable. With that in mind, there is no longer a need to carry heavy albums and folders with data files. The portfolio is not only a need for youths or the common user but also for professionals. People are now documenting their lives online using social networking sites. It is not the end of the album because everything is still at its place but with different importance and grace in our lives.
17:21Yesha Gondalia: The era has come to where things are meant to be online, albums are now just considered as old waste with memories.
17:24 Samina Kausar: Kausar: The soft copy cannot be a replacement of the hard copy. For example, you are always required to present your achievements in hard copy such as degrees etc. Social networking sites are good for connecting people around the globe, but we should never forget about our privacy.
17:27 Yesha Gondalia: Internet plays a big role in the lives of adults and teenagers alike. Teenagers are starting to use the Internet in a myriad of ways from doing schoolwork to transporting themselves halfway around the world. As long as the need for getting quick, in-depth information is still there, the need for the Internet will always be strong. However, privacy should be given due importance along with not being exposed to a greater extent.
17:29 Samina Kausar: People are mostly posting pictures of their children in order to stay connected with family and friends.
17:30 Adeyela Bennett: I definitely agree. My mother-in-law has printed out all of our pictures from the past six months and put them in albums. That shows that we have not completely moved everything online as there are still people who prefer to document in hard copy. The main difference is that, with hard copies it is hard to share it with people in other parts of the world, whereas social media allows us to do that. I do not think that it is unethical of parents to post pictures of their children despite the fact that the children don’t have a say in our decisions. However, when the child is old enough to make a decisions, we need to respect their wishes. My eldest children that are 21 and 25 have asked me not to post their pictures, and of course I do not do that anymore.
- Compiled by Donia Jenabzadeh/Community Web Editor
