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Submitted by Conni Leonessa, Pediatric RN –
Proverbs 22:3 says: “The wise person sees the approaching danger and plans ahead; the foolish person keeps going and suffers the consequences.” Our children are suffering the consequences! According to Screen Time, the average child spends 4.8 hours on social media every day.
According to the Surgeon General’s Advisory Report, Social Media and Youth Mental Health of 2023, youth who spend greater than 3 hours daily on social media have double the rates of anxiety and depression, have an increased risk of developing eating disorders, and an increased risk of self-harm and suicide.
According to Detective Patric Crough author of the book, “The Serpents Among Us, How to Protect Your Children from Sexual Predators…” The internet is a predator Trojan Horse. Sexual crimes against children have increased dramatically. 1 in 5 children will be sexually solicited. He goes onto say, “cellphones in the hands of unsupervised children are a grave liability, it increases the risk of connecting with a sexual predator. They infiltrate chat rooms, gaming sites and other social media sites.
According to Enough is Enough, an organization dedicated to making the internet safer for children and families –
• 40% of children grades 4-8th will converse with a stranger online.
• 53% give the stranger their phone number.
• 21% will speak by phone.
• 15% will try to meet.
• 11% will meet.
• 6% will give the stranger their home address.
According to t may have to register as sex offenders. Also, once something is put on the internet, it is extremely difficult to have it removed!
Then there is the issue of internet porn. It is not a matter of if a child will be exposed, it is a matter of when!
According to Josh Mc Dowell in a talk he gave in 2018 for the Family Research Council, there are 47 million porn videos that children watch every single day!
Dr. John Foubert, researcher and author of “Protecting Your Child from Internet Pornography; children ages 8-11, 93% of boys and 63% of girls will be exposed to internet porn. About 80% of children when exposed will not only look for more but will share it with other children.
Bullying and Suicide: According to the National Vital Statistics Report 2020, concerning the rates of suicide among the nation’s youth. From 2000 to 2006 the rates remained fairly stable but in 2007 the rate increased by 57.4%! What was invented in 2007? The iPhone. We gave our children access to the world in their hands and we gave the world access to our children!
For every successful suicide, there were 8 ER visits for attempted suicide and 3 hospitalizations for self-harm.
According to the National Institutes of Health, victims of cyberbullying under the age of 25 are twice as likely to commit suicide or self-harm and 4 times as likely to report suicidal thoughts or attempts.
What’s a parent to do? Plenty!
Enough is Enough offers a free online course Internet Safety 101 for parents, www.enough.org, www.internetsafety101.org, 888 744 0004.
Get the bestselling book, Good Pictures Bad Pictures from Defend Young Minds
https://www.defendyoungminds.com.
Try a “Light Phone” these phones have several features, calls, text, music but do not connect to the internet. Bark has a really good phone, visit https://www.bark.us.
If you have a porn problem, visit Covenant Eyes at https://cleanhearts.online.
Join NCOSE Https://endsexualexploitation.org. An organization that fights to protect our children on the national level.
Join Mom’s for Liberty, a grass roots movement of moms who fight locally to protect their children. www.momsforliberty.org. momsforlibertyhamilton.tn@gmail.
Go social media free! Erin Napier from HGTV’s Hometown has started a group for parents who want to raise their children without social media it is called: O.S.P.R.E.Y. Old School Parents Raising Engaged Youth. https://ospreykids.com.
They offer lots of creative ideas and support.
~ Conni Leonessa pediatric RN and lover of children!
One Response
THANX!! Shared on X.