Beyond platform blame; Guiding the digital generation

Most of the time we blame the owner of the platform for no reason while we are supposed to monitor what our kids or junior ones are doing online.

Some platforms are not meant for a child under the age of 18, but because some people, or let me say some adults, feel like their children or junior ones are old enough to handle gadgets, they would give them phones without knowing they have just been exposed the child to the world they know nothing about.

While some platforms are really to be blamed for some content, we see online nowadays because it is not everyone that opens an account that is old enough to have an account, but then how will they know or censor whoever opens an account and the content the person wanted to post? Even if the account was reported and banned, people will definitely get another one.

So that is why most of the blame, or let me say the responsibility, should be from the parents because the owner of the platform wouldn't know if someone is old enough to have accounts. But parents know when their children are old enough to go on social media because, on social media, there are lots of things that could mislead a child.

The image is mine and was designed on Canva by me

Every parent is responsible for their children's actions, and it is every parent's responsibility to monitor what their children are up to on social media.

I think parents should rigidly monitor their kids online because when something goes wrong with the children because of whatever they see online, the owner of the platform wouldn't be responsible for whatever happens to the children. And those content owners wouldn't come to the parent's aim of destroying their children's lifestyle.

Screenshot from my phone

So I believe it is everyone parents job to look after their children online and offline because nobody will carry the cross with the parents when something is not right with their children.

There was a single parent in my former compound; she gave her 12-year-old son an iPhone 6 just because she could afford the phone, and she wanted people in the neighborhood to see her as a big madam who could take care of a child alone without any man.

Screenshot from my phone

Well, I never go against a parent taking care of their children but there are things we shouldn't do for an underage child, an iPhone is too much for such a child and he does whatever he likes on the phone, there was a day I caught him watching a video of a girl twerking on TikTok, immediately he noticed someone was at his back he hide the video, Meanwhile I have seen what he was watching.

Three days later, I was spreading clothes outside, and I stylishly asked his mother why he gave him the phone; she responded that she didn't want him to lack anything so he wouldn't have bad friends that would influence him. That was a lame excuse because the boy is exposed to some things on social media that she is not aware of, and I am not in a position to tell her.

Screenshot from my phone

My elder sister has a boy of his age, and she gave him a burner phone just in case she went out and needed to get across to him at home; all that he does on his Nokia phone is play games because it is not a browsing phone.

When there is light, he watches cartoons, and any time he tries watching HIPtv music on their DSTV, my sister will always tell him, "That station is for adults."

Screenshot from my phone

Sometimes, some parents don't realize they are exposing their children to the wrong path by giving them a browsing phone, which would make them see different things online.

The owner of the platform wouldn't be able to distinguish between adults and teenagers because most teenagers use adult age to open an account, so parents are the ones to monitor their children from getting exposed to social media content that could destroy their lives.