Last Updated on May 29, 2025 by

Cyber security : This is the era of digital world could a better place, an ideal world without internet, gadgets and social media. This article shows students how to engage in cyber security actively by learning both protection of personal data and correct technology usage. The knowledge of digital threats and privacy control features alongside appropriate internet conduct plays a role in decreasing cyber threats. Many of children require some training for digital wellness & avoidance to contents including different way to limit screen time. Safe practices equip people with the advantages of technology and lower their concerns of cyber security.

Every application system linked to web access that enables users to share content with others constitutes social media platforms.

• Dating apps/Sites
• Micro blogs
• Blogs (Tumblr)
• Social networking
• Media sharing sites
• Wikipedia
• Bookmarking sites

Through social media and internet access teenagers maintain friendship bonds with their teenage peers as their primary use.

• Establish new connections
• The short amount brings enjoyment while wasting hours.
• Watch this pornographic video.
• In order to meet people who share similar interests individuals should both explore existing content and create or distribute valuable content.

Why Adolescent Internet Use Should Be Prioritized on Cyber security :

The use of internet and social media platforms reaches extremely high numbers among teenage users. Despite the numerous advantages, online presence and interactions may not always be beneficial; these include serious worries about their safety and wellbeing in addition to the negative effects of excessive use; if teenagers use the internet and media poorly, they may have to deal with long-lasting effects. People spent a lot more hours online during the pandemic

Benefits of using internet – Cyber security

• Development and fortification of relationships
• Honing the social skill and empathically management
• It generates many types of educational and infotainment with engagement opportunity.
• It provides support and assistance to any kind of facil
• Also provide information and support regarding various identities (cultural, sexual, and ethnic)
• We can acquire knowledge and information from internet
• Formal and informal education may be received from different sources.
• Improvement of skills with foster creativity through internet
• Lessen biases
• Unwind and have fun through internet

Different types of Risks arising the Misuse and Overuse : (Cyber security)

• Any kind of Cyber-bullying & other online transgressions
• Exhaustion of Different types of Social media
• Sharing of false information
• Advertisement in deceptive mode and other Fake news received throuh internet
• May have financial frauds
• Full addiction or dependency with internet
• May be impaired mental health issues
• Forced purchasing
• More time utilization in excessive gaming
• Maximum exposure to unwanted content in internet
• Easy access and distribution of unnecessary and in-appropriate contents frequently
• Overall declination in academic achievement of user
• Loss of friends or relationships Cyber-bullying and other infractions on the internet

Many Negative effects on mental health

• Impulsive purchases
• excessive gaming;
• exposure to unwanted content;
• Easy & early access to & distribution of inappropriate content freqently
• Overall declination in academic performance by user
• Sure loss of friends or relationships among themselves
• May have financial frauds
• social media fatigue
• misinformation,
• fake news,
• deceptive advertisements;

Protective characteristics associated with internet use : Cyber security

1. Behavior that seeks assistance and access to service providers
2. Strong hobbies and interests offline
3. Social media literacy or cyber literacy
4. Close relationship with family & friends in surroundings
5. Always keeping healthy relationships with other people
6. Good self-esteem

Risk factors related to use of internet : Cyber security

• A lack of support from their parents and an inability to bond as a family happens too often
• Unrealistic or invisible social friends;
• Could see less of friends and relatives all the time
• Negative peer pressure
• Low self-esteem
• Lowering in academic performance by user
• Mental health issues may have from earlier time
• Enhanced access to & exposure to many unrestricted & un-trusted internet use
• Lacking of knowledge about how to use media effectively and efficiently
• Neglecting the offline passions and interests

Risk factors

Individual considerations

• Low risk perception;
• Developmental alterations;
• Low self-esteem
• Not understanding the consequences of risky behavior and preventive behavior
• Being out of school
• Having experienced physical or sexual abuse as a youngster
• Psychological intervention, self emotions with other societal problems

Social factors

• Gun ownership;
• gang affiliation;
• Legitimize the violence with different Socio-cultural elements
• forced relocation,
• dangerous migration,
• mobility for environmental and socioeconomic causes;
• media exposure (modeling)

Factors related to family

• Lacking of direct supervision & required support from family members
• Guidance in abnormal behavior
• Misuse of Substance in the family
• Un-employment

Teenagers could either be the victims or the offenders of:

• Cyber-bullying
• cyber-stalking,
• trolls,
• doxing,
• hacking,
• phishing;
• establishing and disseminating rumors;
• fabricating a persona for a variety of reasons;
• grooming;
• unwanted attention;
• sexting that could expose them;
• blackmailing;
• financial frauds

Concerns about overuse: Cyber security

• Uncontrolled media consumption, continuous gaming & chattering i.e. compulsion
• Continuing to use even when not intending to i.e. loss of control in overuse
• Fear of losing or not having a cell phone or sleeping with one in bed makes you feel uneasy if you aren’t permitted to use media.
• May have FOMO (fear of missing out) when not online also

Some related terms which are frequently being used:

Cyber-bullying or cyber-harassment is bullying/harassment through any kind of digital means.

Cyber-stalking is the following of someone, a group or an organization over the Internet or other technological means while being harassed.

The word ”troll” is used in reference to a person who intentionally tries to create discord or animosity or arguments within an online social group.

The practice of doxing, which is itself a form of cyber-bullying, is when individuals use private or sensitive data, statements or documents to harass, expose, financially injure, or otherwise exploit the targeted individual.

Everyone seems to have an idea of what hacking is, where hacking is more than just hacking a computer, cellphone, tablet or even a whole network.

Phishing constitutes a social engineering attack which attackers use to acquire users’ credit card details and access credentials. An attacker impersonating a trusted organization causes the victim to open an email, instant message or text message.

Effects of Abnormal Use:

• Effect on relationships:
• Life in reality becomes challenging for you because the real world fails to hold your interest or provide satisfaction

Psychological-Social effect:

• distant,
• reserved;
• mood swings;
• Lacking of self-confidence and worth.
• decline in grades Physical health effects

Reduced exercise;

• excessive weight loss or gain;
• headaches,
• backaches,
• poor posture,
• or eye strain;
• insomnia or restless nights

To control their use of the internet

• talk about their normal day,
• We must suggest them to keep a time log of their activities & also asking them to re-think about.
• In which type, the information they are accessing online may affect their self-esteem?
• What is the value addition?
• Do users feel satisfied with their current state of life or do they want to make changes?

To create safety on the internet

• Always reject unknown social network buddies.
• Not to allow to meet someone if earlier you met online; • Personal information viz. name, address, school name, etc. on public online forums not to be posted;
• Identity protection and Privacy settings to be ensured.
• Never divulge your password to anybody save your parents or legal guardian.
• Frequently change your password and utilize unusual characters when coming up with new ones.
• Any data shared on social networking sites creates lasting digital records hence users should be wary about uploading sensitive content.

Encourage them not to reply to the person or people causing the cyber-bullying:

• Block and report the individual or people involved;
• Take screenshots and photos and document them;
• The method involves talking about it while implementing time controls and safeguarding your digital safety
• Talk about, Encourage, and Make a Suggestion Provide some advice.
• Be mindful;
• Rights, rules, regulations and obligations may be taught to the adolescent.
• High privacy settings on different social media may be done and to keep their profiles hidden always.

What Can You Do in Action?

• Awareness in the school, colleges, community etc.
• Form alliances with departments that are related, like Police and Information
• Collaborate with the guardians, caregivers, teachers, and family.
• Enhance your self-capacity by participating in pertinent training.
• Make the proper referrals and urge them to speak with: Police; cybercrime unit; mental health specialists and counselors; educators and school administrators

Urge them to collaborate with the guardians, family, teachers, and caretakers in order to:

• Establish clear limits;
• discuss;
• communicate;
• control use;
• Supportive foster environment
• Relationships may be cultivated basing on true & trust.
• stay safe online.

Putting safety first

• Technical assistance should be given so that they can:
• Privacy settings may be verified & application of different filters as per need.
• Report and receive assistance for cyber-crimes;
• Assist the teen in banning or reporting posts or individuals.
• We can change our passwords frequently in regular intervals.

Key Message :

• Social Media: A mobile or web platform which lets users connect while sharing generated content with others and entities constitutes Social Media.
• There is a plethora of social media sites – including blogs and microblogs Tumblr or Twitter, dating app sites Tinder, media sharing sites like YouTube, Wikipedia, etc. These networks include Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
• Internet use is a two-edged sword with many risks and many advantages. As a result, attention must be paid to teenage internet usage.

A small video on Safe use of Internet & Social Media from Youtube is mentioned below: https://www.youtube.com/embed/oCQNhQmqOu0?si=Z4Of8h-u4pwaw3rE

FAQs:

Q1. What fundamental reasons make cyber security vital to develop among young adolescents?

Ans. Online threats, including cyberbullying, data theft, phishing and predators, affect most young users of the internet. With cyber security measures adolescents obtain protection against unauthorized access and attacks that protect their digital information and private identity.

Q2. Which threats do typical teen users typically encounter while using the internet?

Ans. As below:

• Cyberbullying
• Phishing scams
• Inappropriate content
• Identity theft
• Accounts in Social media accounts may be hacked

Q3. What methods do adolescents need to use for secure Internet practices?

Ans. As below:

• Use strong, unique passwords
• Unknown links should not be clicked
• Keeping the software and apps updated always
• Must avoid to share nay personal details online
• A public device user should always perform a log out when they finish their session.

Q4. Parents should have what responsibilities when it comes to securing their children in cyber space?

Ans. Parents need to instruct their teenagers about:

• Online risks to be shared and educated among adolescents
• Regula & day to day Monitoring the screen time and content view by adolescents
• Using parental control tools
• Conversations must be opened with the adolescents regarding their about online experiences

Q5. Schools need to implement strategies which will help students become cyber security aware.

Ans. Schools can:

• Teaching digital safety concepts must be incorporated into the educational program.
• Hosting the cyber awareness workshops
• Teaching of digital behavior in responsive behavior
• Cyber incidents to be reported and it should be encouraged

Q6. Illustrate some rusted tools for ensuring online safety?

Ans. As below:

• Antivirus software
• Password managers
• Parental control apps
• Two-factor authentication
• VPNs-Virtual Private Networks

Q7. How teens to discover good methods to recognize dangerous or fake websites.

Ans. As mentioned below:

• Suspicious URLs
• Grammar mistakes
• No HTTPS encryption
• A pop-up showing ads alongside a request for personal details

Q8. Teens who fall victim to cybercrime need to follow which steps?

Ans. They should :

• A teen should immediately notify both a reliable adult and their teacher.
• The platform needs to be informed about this issue.
• This includes, for example, screenshots and messages.
• Adolescents must file complaints to cybercrime authorities.

Q9. Cyber security should be seen as something we must learn and use throughout life.

Ans. The expansion of digital technology requires everyone to learn how to protect their online presence because this knowledge enables secure communication and educational opportunities and professional development in the upcoming future.

Guideline of WHO for Adolescents & its link as mentioned below: https://www.who.int/teams/maternal-newborn-child-adolescent-health-and-ageing/adolescent-and-young-adult-health/resource-bank-for-adolescent-health/who-guidelines

Thanks and Regards

Note: This information is suggestive only and not a replacement for medical advice. For more details please visit to my website as mentioned below:

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