Monitoring Online Activity – a necessity or an invasion of privacy.

A few years ago, technology was a mere term. Smartphones never existed and ‘privacy’ was a word limited to our bedrooms.

Now, every school-going kid owns a mobile, in most cases a smartphone that originated as a luxury and ended up being a necessity. While the world is consumed with its benefits, the cool utilities its got, ‘technology, a boon or bane’ is still the most interesting debate.

As a teenager, with a rebellious mind and heart, we hated being restricted. We were always in the urge to break free of all those constraints put up by the society and hence pursue our deep secret fantasies in the darkest hours in a world we create. Technology, especially the world wide web delivered that to you – where you become someone else, something else.

The internet is a large ocean. It’s got sharks, cat fishes , blue whales and much more. When social media came into play, we were deprived of privacy as soon as we signed up scrolling up those terms and conditions page, and even the privacy terms. You may have already realized that we are being watched and heard every moment. Its out of our reach to protect our private data anymore. But, all we could do is stay updated, stay protected from the harms of the dark web. Yes, there are cyber cells that could assist you in crisis, but why go so far if you can prevent it yourself ?

Remember guys, you are not alone and its not just your fault. The dangers of the web lures you with the vulnerabilities and the weakness of yours.  Be bold and try not to reveal personal information to people you never met before.

How do we monitor online activity?

It’s the responsibility of the adults to be cool and open to discuss ‘online activity’ and consequences of one wrong move. You need to win the trust of the kids, rather than just being strict, its about making them understand the good and the bad by actually telling what bad is around and not shutting them away from it. Curiosity is one element kids own and when you try keeping them away, they are naturally driven towards it.

Kids should also trust their parents and siblings with their personal activity, at least approach them when in any trouble and not just deal with it on their own.

The recent suicides among the teenagers across the globe were confirmed to be caused by the infamous ‘Blue Whale Challenge’-a deadly suicide game started by a Russian , Philipp Budeikin in 2013 for the cause of ‘cleansing the society’. He confessed to his crimes as he breaks the spirit of young souls and encouraging them to suicide as they are considered ‘biological waste’.

He said..

I was giving them what they didn’t have in real life : warmth, understanding, connections’

Those lines were really thought provoking. If only these late kids had the warmth, trust and love from people around them,idea of suicide would never occur to them.

If only they had shared everything about their life to one person, they could have stopped it.

If only their parents were more cautious, compassionate and understanding, loneliness wouldn’t be a part of them.

If only they weren’t given personal devices that let them succumb to their curiosity and expose them to the cruel side of the world, they would be still alive.

There will be a continuous debate between choosing their innocense or safety. With the steady rise in crimes on young children, it will be the resposibility of us adults to protect their childhood with the right balance of awareness.

Let us all change.

Change the world we live in.

Stay Safe.

Spread Love.