Minors and the pitfalls of the web

A theme that has always been particularly close to my heart is that of the pitfalls that little cybernauts can encounter on the web.

An Istat survey published in 2020 highlighted the increasingly early access to the network by children, starting from the age of six: in 54% of cases children use the internet at home and there is an increase in children who have a smartphone between the ages of 6 and 10 years.

Unfortunately, parents have the incorrect habit of allowing their children to use smartphones and tablets starting from the first year of life and 8 out of 10 children, between the ages of 3 and 5, usually use their parents.

A chilling fact, which dates back to 2018, is that the 98% of minors between 14 and 19 years old owns a personal smartphone starting from the age of 10.

Internet access and the opening of the first social profile is around 9 years old: this is, in the opinion of the writer, a big mistake.

In Italy, anyone under the age of 13 cannot join social networks, while anyone between the ages of 13 and 14 can do so but requires parental authorization but, you know, this is a ban easily circumvented.

Many teenagers are hyper-connected and even manage multiple profiles on social networks. They have applications that are unknown to their parents and this allows them to be less controlled and also more confident in being able to "dare", encouraging behaviors such as sexting, cyberbullying and the dissemination of private material on the net; and the consequences of such conduct can be tragic.

The 14% of teenagers also has a fake profile, which only a few know about, making it therefore uncontrollable by parents and, at the same time, easy prey for the grooming (online solicitation of minors).

But the smartphone is not only used during the day.

Another emerging phenomenon is the so-called Vamping, ie the use of chat and internet during the night hours.

Kids wake up or stay awake during the night to read the latest notifications from whatsapp groups to avoid feeling left out of the group or to chat with friends and boyfriends or with potential “orcs”.

This evidently causes considerable problems because this abuse of the tool negatively affects the quantity and quality of sleep by directly interfering with the daily activities of children: in fact, obsessive use causes deconcentration, states of anxiety, nervousness and difficulty in remaining attentive. to lessons thus causing a poor academic performance as well as eye fatigue, headaches or back pain, up to the development of a real pathological addiction.

For teenagers, and not only, to tell the truth, the number of likes received is very important: many likes and many approvals increase self-esteem, popularity and therefore personal safety. Obviously, the opposite is also true, i.e. derogatory comments and few likes negatively affect mood and self-esteem.

The hyperconnection is so high that the cd “Nomophobia”, from No-mobile-phone, is the new phobia linked to the excessive fear of being without a telephone or without an internet connection: the terror that the mobile phone will run out or that there is no signal in some places generates anxiety, anger and frustration.

A serious and alarming problem is that around 1 in 10 teenagers take dangerous selfies with which they even put their lives at risk and over 12% has been challenged to take an extreme selfie to prove their courage; and some have even lost their lives.

Then there are the social challenges challenge i.e. all those chains that arise on social networks in which you are nominated or called to participate by others through a tag; the purpose, typically, is to post a video or picture requested for later "nominate" other people to do the same, spreading like wildfire on the Web, even within a few hours.

There are, for example, alcoholic chains which provide for the purpose of drinking large quantities of alcohol in a very short time and in particular conditions or places; but also tripping, the so-called "Skullbreaker challenge" or tying a belt around the neck to cause asphyxiation, self-induced suffocation, jumping on moving cars, lying down on the tracks and much more.

In October 2020, in Naples, an eleven-year-old boy committed suicide to complete a game offered online: an investigation is underway for instigating suicide against unknown persons; yesterday the news came that a 10-year-old girl died in Palermo following a cardiac arrest due to prolonged asphyxiation: according to an initial reconstruction, to participate in an extreme "social challenge", the "Black out challenge", one a belt was tied around her throat.

A dramatic precedent dates back to 2018 when a 14-year-old boy was found dead asphyxiated in the family home in Milan: he had a tight rope around his neck and, according to the family, the boy had participated in the aforementioned game in search of extreme emotions.

These "games" are born from a request for friendship and, subsequently, it is proposed to participate in games and skill tests; subsequently, those who have joined find themselves involved in a perverse mechanism that incites them to take part in increasingly risky trials, up to self-harm and suicide.

We need to talk to the kids, explain to them that there are these idiotic challenges on the net so that they don't suffer from their fascination, even if they are very fragile, they feel immortal and can hardly foresee the tragic consequences of their conduct; children's browsing must always be monitored and a maximum amount of time to be spent connected must be established: for example, placing the computer in a place where it is possible to keep an eye on the child's activity on the Internet offers the possibility of exercising greater control; for example, the Parental Control feature in software such as 3's Antivirus Security Suite is an easy way to enforce your Internet usage policies and allows you to set specific time and category limits, prohibiting, for example, browsing violence, pornography, online gaming, etc.

In any case, when you see videos about dangerous challenges or invitations to participate in challenges appear, report them immediately to the Postal Police, even online, on the website of the police station online.

Online bullying and violent videos are other worrying growing trends on the web.

There is the impression that everything is allowed in the online world: therefore, it even happens that they commit crimes. And in this case there is a parental responsibility.

I recently had a case of cyberbullying, where 3 boys had opened an instagram page to heavily insult one of their classmates and once the offensive material is posted on the net, it is no longer possible to stop its diffusion: parents must collaborate with schools and other authorities to counter these trends.

With Covid things have gotten worse, and by a lot.

Kids have greatly increased the time spent in front of the computer and, unfortunately, on the web, because they no longer have their moments of socializing and lock themselves in their rooms with their smartphones: they feel abandoned even by their parents, busy between smartworking and various problems ; the lockdown and the closure of schools has led to an increase in anxiety and depression in children and parents do not always notice these ailments.

At its worst, the web can seriously harm children's emotional development and lead to situations that put them in physical danger.

With this article I don't want to demonize the internet which has really improved people's lives: it is a very important tool if used well and during the pandemic it made distance learning possible, ensuring that there was a minimum of sociality among the kids. However, alongside the various opportunities that the web offers, there are just as many risks: responsible use is necessary!

Dangerous encounters can occur in this virtual square.

Attitudes or behaviors that young people know to be dangerous can be "forgotten" if caught up in enthusiasm and emotions that they are unable to handle.

For this reason, on 24 January 2019, a bill was presented to the Chamber of Deputies - law no. 1537 - aimed at introducing into our legal system rules for the protection of minors who access the internet.

In particular, it has been proposed - in the wake of the provisions of art. 3 of the "Internet and minors" self-regulatory code of 2003 ‒ to oblige providers by law to offer all internet users differentiated navigation services.

But, beyond regulatory interventions, the role of parents is decisive, as they have the responsibility to protect their children. Parents must be the first to instruct children on the correct use of the network, and to supervise to avoid exposure to possible risks.

There are many pedophiles around the web who lure using the very communication channels of the very young, thus managing to obtain sexual content.

Sometimes the perpetrators are unsuspected subjects, with a clean record, obsessively looking for new prey: it is sufficient to contact a minor to then widen the circle to the entire network of children's friendships; in some cases pedophiles know the victims personally, perhaps because they are family friends, but having opened fake profiles they are difficult to identify; often, again, they present themselves as peers and the categories can be the most diverse: from the kid to the professional.

They use manipulation techniques to force the victims to comply with their requests and ensure that they maintain absolute confidentiality about what happens.

In July 2020, the Court of Parma, within a judgment for the termination of the civil effects of marriage, affirmed that it is the parents' duty to check their teenagers' smartphones and PCs and that the use of parental filters is also legitimate control.

The Constitution, in art. 30 imposes the obligation of education, an "obligation to digital education", in order to train children in the best possible way.

However, it must be considered that many parents lack the necessary technical knowledge; many parents publish photos and videos of their children, personal information and comments of all kinds, exposing themselves, together with their children, to enormous risks, without being fully aware of the negative effects of their conduct: not only minors, therefore, but also adults need real “digital literacy”.

Therefore, it would be desirable to provide training courses and orientation days for students and parents within schools by law and to increase the activities currently envisaged in schools on the subject of digital education, meetings to raise awareness among students and parents on the importance of adequate digital training, on the risks of the network and on the rules to follow in online communication.