5 internet trends that can harm kids

Shielding kids from violent video games is not enough. They can come across harmful internet trends in perfectly safe and even ‘respectable’ spaces on the web. We have identified 5 internet behaviour trends that can be bad for kids. Parents need to be alert about these.  

Social media challenges 
This is easily the chart topping trend. Dozens of researchers, doctors and psychiatrists are talking about this phenomenon. These challenges and games give kids a sense of thrill with no clue about the dire consequences. For example, the cinnamon challenge involves not drinking water for a minute after eating a spoonful of cinnamon. Cinnamon can dry the mouth to an extent where the lungs can collapse. Explain to kids these challenges are dangerous and stupid, there’s absolutely no bravery about them.  

Becoming a catfish 
A 'catfish' is someone who adopts another person's identity on social media platform to lure people towards them. What’s worse, this was made famous by an MTV programme of the same name where the 'catfish' posted fake pictures and communicated with people under false pretences to form intense relationships. Once a child becomes a catfish, she may not want to return to her normal self and suffer from low self-esteem. 

FOMO on Instagram 
Instagram is the worst social media network for mental health and wellbeing, according to a Royal Society of Public Health, UK survey done in 2017, and repeated in 2019.  1500 teens and young adults said that it was a creative platform, but it also made them anxious or depressed.  Constantly looking at attractive images of friends on holidays, or eating elaborate meals, or achieving slimming goals, created a Fear of Missing Out or FOMO.  

Blindly following Youtube stars 
YouTube has become almost an inseparable app for all since the lockdown. Kids may become followers of YouTube sensations, who do not always post kid-friendly content. In this age of binge watching, keep an eye on your child to see if they are ardent fans of an inappropriate YT star.  

Binge buying on apps  
Not a new trend, this reached the news with the lockdown. Many teens download shopping apps just because their friends are buying on these. They also get sucked into a vortex of loyalty points and gamification meant to make money from them.