Saudi Gazette report

DAMMAM – A study prepared by researcher Ashwaq Al-Harthi of Naif Arab University of Security Sciences has emphasized that internal supervision of children by parents can prevent 85 percent of dangers posed to them by social media networks.

“Methods of family monitoring to prevent dangers of social media networks” was the title of Al-Harthi’s research, which was published recently. She selected 575 female students of intermediate and secondary schools in Riyadh for her study.

The study showed the difficulties being faced by families to monitor activities of their children on social media because of the availability of different channels.

“It is easy for underage children join social media platforms and log in to adult sites on the Internet by providing fake information,” the researcher said while speaking to Al-Watan Arabic daily.

She emphasized that most students who took part in the study lacked awareness on the dangers posed by social media networks. “They are also unaware of the punishment for misuse of social media platforms,” she pointed out.

Internal monitoring can be done by narrating stories having moral lessons to children and teaching them good customs and traditions, Al-Harthi said.

Families should also warn children about the negative effects of social media and encourage them to use the Internet with caution.

Social media networks could be used to harass young women, blackmail them and exploit them sexually as well as to promote extremist ideas.

“We should tell our children that God is watching all our actions. We should also tell them that they should inform parents of any instance of exploitation through social media. Parents should also monitor change in the attitude and behavior of children,” she explained.

A lack of regular contacts between family members encourages young men and women to establish contacts with friends on social media without realizing its dangers and complications. “The rules and regulations to fight cyber crimes are not very clear and this is another issue,” she said.

There are 330 million active users for Twitter, 55 million users for Facebook among 3.4 billion users of the Internet worldwide. Al-Watan said there are 23 million cell phone users, 24 million Internet users and 9 million Twitter users in the Kingdom.

Speaking about findings of her study, Al-Harthi said teenagers have disclosed that family monitoring was highly effective in preventing dangers posed to them by social media.

It is 85.2 percent effective, according to data furnished by the students who participated in the survey. According to their parents internal monitoring can prevent 76.7 percent of the dangers.

Al-Harthi requested education authorities to include social media challenges in the curriculum. At the same time, parents should inject a self-monitoring culture in the minds of children by instilling fear of the all-seeing God in them.

They should also nurture moral values such as truthfulness and trustworthiness in them with the help of stories. “We should encourage internal monitoring by families,” Al-Harthi said, adding that it would play a big role in molding the character of children and preventing them from deviations.