How Teens Are Becoming Victims of Dating Abuse in the Digital World?
Media highlighted hundreds of cases of how teens became victims of social media and dating abuse. It is important to understand what dating abuse really means. When teens and kids use dating sites, they meet new people and start talking to them. The friendship further turns into a relationship where the two start meeting and dating.
So far things are okay. But most of the people on dating sites are looking for such victims who they can use for their benefits. It can be in any form. Some people make sexual relationships with teens, take their pictures and make videos. This content is used to blackmail the teen girls. In other cases, teens are abused, sexually harassed and even get injured by their matches. Many teens have been killed as well.
Below are some facts and stats that further exacerbate the situation.
- 25% of Teens on dating sites were victimized by their matches.
- 84% People told that they have been psychologically abused.
- 52% of People from dating sites faced physical abuse.
- 1 in 6 youth report facing cyberbullying online.
- 90% of People who experienced cyberbullying were also sexually abused.
Things become clear from these stats that no one is safe when it comes to the dangers of social media and dating sites. We are going to talk about how it starts and what can be done to prevent such things.
How and Where It Begins?
A lot of people have written on the possible dangers of dating sites and apps. Social media websites are the biggest source when it comes to sexual abuse, cyberbullying and dating abuse. Executive of these social media platforms never allows their children and teens to use social media sites. The reason is they are aware of the possible threats, dangers and further outcomes.
Parents make mistakes when they buy their teens phones but don’t keep checks on them.
Kids of 5-6 years of age are bought the latest smartphones, tablets and expensive gadgets. They use these devices all day, at schools, on the go, and at home too. They are screen-obsessed and have no idea of what is going on around them. In such cases, the parents are making mistakes because they have no idea of how harmful the screen obsession can be.
It becomes clear that as teens and kids are given free hands regarding the use of social media and dating sites, they have no fear and control of parents. Many of the parents are not tech-savvy having no idea of how the internet and social media stuff works, how they should be used and what needs to be filtered. This lack of understanding makes their kids prone to social media dangers.
Teens love meeting new people on dating sites
The start of everything is usually surprising and even pleasant. So is the case with teens when they get new devices and phones. They feel happy, find something to cheer about and tools to spend their time. In pursuit of using new technology, they become internet abuse victims as soon as they start using the internet.
From information sharing to telling too many details to the internet- teens lose everything. What they browse is being recorded and tracked. They see content on social media sites according to their browsing choice and what they search online. This should worry you why search on one platform shows the same things on the other ones.
During all this, teens get familiar with the dating websites. They start spending time there. They meet new people who they start talking to. This friendship leads to frequent talks, chats, phone calls, video calling, and relationships. It has been reported that most of the teen girls meet boys older than they are. The age gap says everything.
The teen girls are convinced to meet. As the relationship starts, they start dating. But things begin to get worse. Teens meet strangers and even date them. This is the biggest mistake they make in their lives. No one is safe online when it comes to social media and the possible dangers of dating sites.
What to Do About This?
No one can change the social media, find people who can be harmful to their kids and talk to them to stay away from their kids. But certain things can be done in this regard. First of these is to keep a check on the kids.
Parents should know what their children do online, what kind of websites they visit and nature of the content they have access to. Furthermore, parents should use a parental control app. The purpose is to empower parents and let them have more control over their children, their phones and internet use.
With BlurSPY surveillance app, all parents can monitor their kids. The app also offers a wide range of other features that are considered perfect for dealing with rogue teens and preventing sexual as well as dating abuse. Parents will be more satisfied that they have taken promising steps to ensure protection and safety of their children.
