‘Parents must monitor kids online’ due to threat of social media abuse

A researcher into online harassment has said parents have little option but to closely monitor their children’s online activities, such are the dangers present throughout social media.

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.