Is Online Dating Safe for your teen in the age of Social Media?

The literal definition of dating has been changed in the present era. The digitized generation has actually flipped the description of the latter term. Previously, In 80s, people use to meet and greet in person, share their happy moments, give and take time to know each other. Fine dining, watching romantic movies together and spending quality time with one another were all those things that allowed them to conclude that they’re finally in a relationship.  

The conditions of being into a love relationship is altered with modernization. Unlike previous days, It is a cake to get a dating partner with just one click. Through SNS [Social Networking Sites] like Facebook, WhatsApp, BBM, Snapchat, etc. you can not only reach out to your childhood acquaintances, or any random people whom you may know since very beginning but it also helps in looking out for any unidentified person who sounds to be cool, amusing and appealing. And meeting online with attractive strangers, it’s but obvious to fall for a person with whom you chat day long and share every small bits of your personal life with!  

Why Online Dating Is Not A Good Idea?

Here are some of the points that states why it isn’t a good idea to meet personally with a person whom you first met online. Follow along:

1. In present days, people don’t date, they actually hook;
2. Online predator waits for someone to come into their trap;
3. Knowing someone’s personal information through online chats is one of the biggest tactics used by the phedophiles;
4. It starts with a non-injurious flirtation and ends up with a self destructive situations;
5. Online meeting means trusting someone blindly;
6. By filming your nudity and sharing it with your mystery wo/man is indeed jeopardizing your future/romantic life.

Read On Some Tips And Tricks Which Could Help You Not Be Victimized By The Online Predators :

 

1. DON’T Share Your Personal Identity And Information:  
   
   
   
   
   
   What’s the hurry? Do not open up too quickly in front of an unknown person, if you're planning to date him/her who happened to met you through social media. It’s often observed that people, especially teens, begin to share their personal information with the strangers that can extend to the limits of giving their house addresses, seductive pictures, social media accounts credentials, etc.. Regardless of the fact that the person is harmless or not, The attitude of sharing everything can take you to the self-damaging situations.

2. DO Mark Your Online Activities:
   
   
   
   Be careful of what you’re clicking on! You mustn’t essentially “like” or “comment” on each and every post, especially which is publicized by the unfamiliar person. Doing this may throw lights on you and your profile. Particularly the wrong ones, get a way to stalk you. The thumb rule here is to NEVER like or comment on the nude and seductive pictures or videos. Just ignore or Report Abuse if you don’t like to see it on the social platform. Not considering your activities on social networking sites can accelerates the possibilities of online conflicts, flirting, bullying, etc..

3. Do NOT Accept or Send Friend Request To Unknowns: 
   
   
   
   
   
   This is one of the major mistakes that people does on SNS. Accepting or allowing anyone to become your ‘friend’ is indeed a foolishness. How? Say, suppose, You’ve checked-in your present location or updated a status saying “Alone @ Home”, by this you have openly allowed the phedophiles to stalk or attack you. Acknowledging anyone as a “friend” will also allow the strangers to see/copy/save your personal snaps and data, which they may use for harassing you in future. Therefore, Make friendship with those whom you believe to be trustworthy.

 

4. DO Discuss With Parents Or Friends About Your Social Life: 
   
   
   
   
   
   I know it’s quite difficult to share everything about your privacy with your parents or close friends. But it is crucial to brief them out with whom you chat or friends-with on SNS. Brim them with what kind of communication you do online. If not with parents, then definitely with the friends to take advice before getting into any relationship with your ‘online friend’. Your peers will help you out in knowing if you’re going well or if it’s a wrong or “too-early” to start a courtship. They will assist in letting you know if the person you’re about to date with or already dating with is a right person or not.

5. Do NOT publicize Socially About Your Love Life: 
   
   
   
   
   
   If your love-interest isn’t behaving the way you want him/her to then don’t start publicizing it online. Show all your aggressions face-to-face or on phone, sort it out with an ease. It is a Big No-No to share the bad times of your relationship on social media, Good times can definitely be shared. Yelling on your partner, publically would only bag you lots of likes and ample amount of global knowledge/advices in your comment box. Because going crazy by ranting on him/her will push you to become a show-stealer or may be the matter of joke for the social world.         

Suggestion To The Parents: 

After following along the aforementioned dos and don’ts, I would like to give some advice to the parents section as well. Here it goes:

1. Be updated with what your kids are doing online. It is suggestible to use a child monitoring software to check what are they upto;
2. If your child come and confess about his/her mistakes, try to help them out to get over with it;
3. Make your kids understand, how to behave online. Keep a track of their online actions;
4. Try and make them understand that there is a certain age for loving or dating someone;
5. Gain their confidence. Let them know that you’re there to back them when life puts them down.

Forget About Searching Your Love Interest Online

According to the report issued by the Pew Survey, titled ‘Just forget about searching your love interest online’, Looking for a dating partner online is a not-so-good idea. 80 per cent of the people, from the age of 13-35, Create their profile on the social networking sites to look for a loving or dating partner. Meeting a stranger online, after that greeting them offline can be very dangerous and risky, considering all the above mentioned points. Therefore, it is advisable, Not to take any step amateurishly and emotionally especially when you’re dating ONLINE.    

Teens Expressing Sexuality Over Social Media. Attention Parents!

Social Media - A demand and sometimes a requirement rather a ‘hard-hitting’ word especially for the Genx. It’s flourishing and blooming with the highest pace ever. Every fortnight we could see something new in the landscape of social media. I would suggest you, if you have a teenage kid then surely read this article.

Social networking sites like Facebook, WhatsApp, Viber, BBM, etc. are doted on the kids and among the favouritism of their daily routine. These social platforms exhibit the real ‘You’ out of you. Your younger ones, being innocent enough, expose themselves publicly that too beyond the extent of their limits. You, as a parent, need to be more attentive before your kid slip down the shallow pool.   

Read On And Find Measures To Protect And Guide Your Kids From Going Through This Foxy World!

1. Don’t Say No!

If your kids say that they have an account on the social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc, DO NOT ever say a straight NO to their call. Remember if you restrict them to create an account on the latter sites they will just move towards opting for WhatsApp and Viber. They have ample amount of choice. So there is no point of stopping them for whatsoever they want. Let them be a free bird being in the line of your vision.

2. Become Tech Savvy!

 

You need to keep up with the speed of the present generation. It really will not work if you say you don’t know anything about social medias but you want to monitor your kid’s public activities. It is utmost important for you to be technological savvy to know what actually your kids are doing online. Here you cannot run away with the excuse of not knowing or understanding the techy stuff.

3. Monitor Them Incognally!

Take the aid of any of the kids monitoring software available online. With this you can control them remotely by knowing about their expressions and activities on social networking sites. You can know what exactly they are involve into and what they are sharing, saving, uploading, downloading, etc. As a responsible parent you should know about your teens friends circle. With this you can discover if they are in nexus with the stranger or if they are indulged into sexting or sharing some obscene pictures/selfies or some personal details with the unidentified people or not.

4. Impart Skill To Your Kids!

Let your kids understand that how important their self respect is! Teach them how to fight back bully people and situations. Only you can do it and no one else can teach them the importance of their self-esteem. They should know that they can lose their dignity if they are showcasing themselves sexually over social media sites. A teen should know about the bad consequences if S/He shares a seductive picture/selfie with his/her boyfriend or girlfriend through social platforms. A teen should be a better decision-maker as s/he think twice before s/he lift up any step.    

5. Go For Permanent Fix!

Do not join them over social sites to humiliate your kids publicly. Although this may counterbalance your temporary problems but it can complicate the situation even more than it is muddled presently. Always check for some permanent fix. When you start counselling them, try to think about the potential long term benefits of your kids instead of resolving only the short term problems. Do not always pester over your kids for the things you want them to do. Try to develop a friendly environment within your house.  

6. Navigate Your Kid’s Digital Life!
   
   
   
   
   

With the help of such smart child monitoring spywares navigate you kid moves online. Know about their Facebook friend’s list. Read the entire chat conversation separately with each of their friends. Be alert lest they upload or share some alluring pictures/selfies online that could degrade his/her reputation socially. Try to always start with giving valid and clean examples. Teach your youngsters that in future if anyone personally or professionally want to know about him/her, s/he will be researched online, therefore s/he should have a clean image on such sites.

7. Point Out The Difference!

Let them know the difference between talking verbally and that of conversing publically online. Teen should understand that whatever they upload or share, although can be deleted later, but leave a colossal mark on his/her personal reputation. Let them know about the impact of blasphemy in sociable perspective.

Teens are inexperienced...They need to be guided by you by taking the above mentioned concrete measures...It’s imperative!