‘Parents must monitor kids online’ due to threat of social media abuse
Sarah Gorry, a Dublin-based researcher who is working on a project on online harassment with Tom Meagher of the White Ribbon group, said she was “shocked” when she trawled through some readily available profiles of teenage users across different social media platforms.
Ms Gorry said she had herself been the victim of online abuse on both Twitter and Facebook, but said the level of sexual content and inappropriate language prevalent among adolescent users of social media had frightened her.
“We have to take responsibility as parents, whether that is what your child calls ‘snooping’ or not, that is something I will do to protect my child,” she said.
Ms Gorry is among a number of White Ribbon ambassadors who will speak at an event in Dublin today as part of the organisation’s campaign to end men’s violence against women and promote gender equality.
Ms Gorry, who said she has also suffered abuse online for being a single parent, said her research had highlighted the dangers for young people across some social media platforms, from offensive comments and trolling to sexual coercion through “sexting” and elements of “rape culture”. She said terms such as “slut” and worse were now in common usage.
She referenced one social media “group” where as many as 60 people were involved, sharing and looking at sexting images, with young girls often feeling under pressure to provide an image of themselves.
She also said: “Porn has had a huge impact on young men and how they view women. Sexting is the norm. You are always in competition.
“You can watch porn on your lunch break on your phone now.”
As for parents monitoring what their children are doing on smartphones and computers, she said: “I think every parent needs to be doing it from age 14 to 18. I think parents need to know what I know.”
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