What Parents Should Know about Teen Selfies

Things Parents Should Know about Teen selfies

The desire to get high self-esteem among teenagers can be addictive. Teens become addicted to taking selfies to get positive feedback from their peers. This explains why your teenage son or daughter never seems to stop taking selfies of themselves.

Some teenagers with mental health issues might be at a high risk of being obsessed with selfies. There have been some reports on teenagers spending the whole day taking selfies to get approval in social media. This, consequently, interferes with their education and social life.

Other than having a selfie addiction, a teenager is prone to other dangers. If one is not careful about the kind of picture they post their reputation could end up being damaged. Many teens share intimate photos for the world to see. As I mentioned earlier these photos end up in the wrong hands and damage their reputation and self-esteem as well. Some teenagers might share their location accidentally by taking a selfie in front of a street sign exposing their location to predators.

According to a study by the University of Arizona, selfie-taking and the time taken to edit the selfies were linked to self-objectification that lead to appearance anxiety, body shame, and negative appearance conclusion among teenage girls. According to the senior study researcher, Jennifer Stevens Aubery self-objectification is the concept that you perceive yourself as an external object to be seen by others. Your perception of the world is not an internal one like how you feel, what you can do, and what you think about what you look like to others.

Should Parents Talk to Kids about Selfies?

Yes. Social media is here to stay despite the negative effects it can have on our teens. The best way to make sure that our kids stay safe while posting their photos in social media is through talking with them. So there are various reasons why this is important since we cannot take their phones away from them. It is still an important tool for communication. So here are some of the reasons why we should talk to them.

• Inevitable risks involved

Cybercriminals can get enough information from a simple photo. Your teenager does not even need to comment on their photo when it goes online. If the phone geolocation is on, they can give information about their location because their current location is usually shared and saved along with the photo. Their social media profile is also visible to thieves who can misuse their accounts.

Even if the geolocation is not on, some small details in the background such as landmarks and street names and other precious items can attract ill-intentioned criminals to your house. Cyberbullying can also be a reason why you need to talk to your child about posting selfies on social media. If your child appears in images with embarrassing poses without posting them online, they can be targeted for cyberbullying around the world and in school.

• You need to be involved as a parent

Getting involved in your teenager’s social media activity means explaining to them the importance of privacy and even assist them in setting up privacy settings in their social media profiles and to check on the settings once in a while for reviews.

For selfies, show your kids how to go through the images so that they can weed out some sensitive mistakes that ill intent individuals could use. Explain to them about the potential risks on the internet especially those related to social media posting ensuring that they are aware of the situations that might put them at risk.

• Practice what you preach

Words are not enough to initiate the intended outcome if you do not practice them. You should lead by example. Children usually do what they see adults do rather than do what they say. So, you need to be a role model.

If you cannot resist the temptation of posting some photos of yourself or your family, your kids cannot behave differently. Be careful when sharing excessive personal information on social media sites.

• Trust your teenager but verify their online behavior

It is important to understand what your children are up to in the online world. There are applications like FamiSafe that give you some control over the devices of your kids and their online behavior. This is in a bid to keep them from trouble. Some parental control features can block and filter age-restricted content and even control what is shared and keep you updated on your kid's screen time. You can also check the activity log to find out what content your kid has been accessing.

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Use FamiSafe to keep an eye on kid's photo

FamiSafe is an application that guarantees you the safety of your kids while online. It lets you control the screen time, detect inappropriate activity on your teenager’s phone, and track them wherever they go. FamiSafe controls your kid’s behavior helping them make good digital behavior. Most kids have mobile devices and parents should set reasonable time frames for their usages. FamiSafe helps then strike a balance between their school and digital life.

With FamiSafe you can figure out the location of your son or daughter when they decide to explore the world by themselves or with friends. FamiSafe can also be able to detect cyberbullying, explicit content, and sexual predators by sending you a notification in case inappropriate content is detected on your kid’s devices.

• Suspicious Photos

This FamiSafe feature enables you to detect nude teen selfies, porn photos or screenshots in your teen’s photo gallery. It will send you instant alerts and helping you figure out early porn addiction signs or sexual harassment. FamiSafe can also monitor your kid’s photo album by tracking suspicious images such as inappropriate selfies or images downloaded from social media or other websites. You in return receive notifications on what your child has been watching.

• Explicit Content Detection

This feature monitors texts in social media apps and YouTube. You will be able to get alerts whenever suspicious words are used when texting. You can also connect to your kid’s social media accounts and track down risky keywords in search history, SMS, posts, and other social media messaging platforms.

• Web Filter

This feature allows you to block inappropriate websites and view incognito or private browsing history remotely. You can filter websites on safari or Chrome to protect kids from porn and other inappropriate websites. You can also let kids access appropriate websites that are educative and informative. You will be able to see deleted websites remotely even if your kid surf's in incognito mode.

In conclusion, teen nude selfie-taking is a modern thing brought about by technological change. Technology is here to stay but we must come up with ways of protecting our children from the risks that come with it. Most teenagers have become interconnected worldwide unlike in the old days. A single post can be viewed by many people across the world and it is important to ensure that your teenage son or daughter understands the dangers of exposing themselves to this cruel and unforgiving world. With FamiSafe you are assured of safety and peace of mind. The application is easy to download and install. Keep your family safe today!