The Dark Web, known to be the World Wide Web’s evil twin, is not a place for children. This hidden space on the internet is the hub for criminality on the web. Even though there are no social media platforms on the dark web, children can access sites on the dark web and get exposed to indecent images/video content, sites selling drugs and/or weapons and a lot more on the dark web. However, this is also the case for the surface web.
According to Family Zone, “Generally, the Dark Web is not that attractive for most kids. There are no social media there and no friends. But the Dark Web does have attractions that may draw older children in (fake I.D.s for underage drinking, for example, or local cannabis dealers).”
Surely in an ‘Information Age’, it is expected that the digital trend will take over the entire globe. There, in our homes, the situation is the same. Our kids are connected to the world and we cannot phantom the vast regions reachable from the screens before them. Right there in their hands is the good and the bad; the needed and the unsolicited information; not minding the paedophiles and the bullies who sit just next to them while they browse for their homework and school work. These all characterize the dark web in the midst of the light of knowledge.
A lot of mixed grills are available inside the devices we give to our learners. It is one thing to lock our doors and close our gates. It is another thing for our internet network to be a channel for pollution or the gateway to a world of learning.
It is interesting to note that the same channel that transmits knowledge is the same channel that destroys the mind that it seeks to build.
HOW CAN PARENTS PROTECT THEIR CHILDREN FROM MISUSE OF DIGITAL SPACE
A number of options are available to us as parents and caregivers.
1. As parents, we must be involved in their learning process. Never be far, so you can see what is going on
2. We advise parents to adjust privacy settings (Please bring your child’s device to school, so we can help in this regard).
3. Instruct your children to never share personal information, pictures or videos online with anyone pretending to be a friend.
4. Please report any observations about the online lessons to the school authorities. Prevention is always better than cure.
5. You don’t have to stop them from the digital space; you only need to guide them through. The language of the 21st century is digital literacy. Let us not keep our learners behind.
6. Utilize monitoring and supervisory tools. Parents can utilize several tools that will guarantee that their wards are safe while online. A handful of such tools can provide web filtering, ensuring that children are not exposed to unhealthy content available online.
Parents can approach the IT department for assistance on how to set up protection and monitoring tools on their ward’s devices.