Protecting children from media threats

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Modern parents find themselves in a double position. On the one hand, almost everyone can provide their children with access to modern technologies and educational programs, be aware of where their child is and what he is doing (every teenager now has a phone), but at the same time, this ubiquitous digitalization has led to a sharp the growth of all kinds of threats - primarily informational.

And it's not even so much about the danger of disclosing personal data or bullying on the network, which is also common - it is about the fact that children from a young age find themselves immersed in a virtual environment and spend a huge amount of time in front of screens: communicating on social networks, watching films, TV series, clips, listening to YouTube bloggers and so on.

And everyone understands that this factor leaves a huge imprint on the child's psyche, but few are aware of the parameters of this influence, the internal features of the process and its specific consequences. Few people are able to communicate with a child on topics related to popular movie characters, media characters or music performers. Communicate not just in a “chat” format, but in such a way that reasonably and convincingly convey the understanding that some things from the virtual environment are harmful, and they should be avoided, and some can be used for the benefit of oneself and others.

Adults often think that their children are already better at handling phones, computers, Wi-Fi and more. But in reality, children only quickly master the gadgets themselves, but they do not have the skills to use them useful and, in general, to distinguish between constructive and harmful information, and this is precisely where they really need help from outside. In turn, parents, not having a holistic picture of modern mass culture and the virtual environment, and because of this, not being able to communicate with a child from the level of an experienced adult on these topics, most often simply withdraw themselves. Many impose severe restrictive measures at best. But bans can only be useful up to a certain age. In adolescents, unsubstantiated restrictions no longer cause anything but irritation (as a result - a deterioration in relations with parents and a leveling of the policy of prohibitions).

The truth is that protecting children from the spectrum of the main information threats in the modern world requires extensive knowledge in this area on the part of the parents themselves. In order, on the one hand, to smoothly teach your child to constructively interact with the same Internet, and on the other, to always be able to react meaningfully to any destructive information that, in one way or another, almost everyone encounters.

Within the framework of the Teach Good project, a huge educational information base has already been formed, gradual familiarization with which will allow parents to fully understand the essence of the problem and master the necessary methodology for working with information. The main materials are presented in the form of articles and videos on the site. There is also an opportunity to take an online training marathon "Conscious Perception of Information", during which in 2 months not only master the basic theory, but also consolidate it in practice in collective activities with other participants.

Use the opportunities available to educate and protect children from media threats

Dmitry Raevsky

Additional video materials:

Film "Territory of Danger"

The analytical film "Territory of Danger" describes the key issues of interaction between generations in the information society and constant cyber aggression.

The authors of the film "Territory of Security" raise the issue of the formation of values and standards of youth behavior in the information society. The concepts of the cyber environment and the principles of the impact on a person of the virtual space and information technologies included in the category of cyber weapons are revealed. The film describes one of the main problems of the information society - the dependence of children and youth on gadgets and destructive Internet content, reveals three basic concepts in the field of information threats: cyber weapons, soft power, clip thinking.