I absolutely can’t stand the "kiDs ShOuLdN’t bE OnLiNe aT AlL” rebuttal whenever internet safety for kids gets discussed. Those people refuse to understand that kids who are part of any marginalized group or victims of bullying rely on online spaces for community and support. Having good irl friends and being accepted by the community you were born into is a privilege that not every kid has. As someone who is black, queer, and has niche interests, trying to make friends as a child was an arduous task. I didn’t start making real friends who truly understood me until I got involved in online spaces. I’m annoyed by kids on the internet too, but still think they deserve to be protected while online. This is why I wasn’t happy when I heard the news that Roblox might be shut down. Online safe spaces for kids are kinda extinct. Without Roblox, all those kids will have nowhere to go. If a kid’s only social media platform is Roblox, and the only way they can talk to their online friends is Roblox, if it shuts down, all those friendships will be lost. Plus it will only encourage kids to be more involved on mainstream platforms like Twitter and TikTok. Roblox may not be a “kid friendly” online space, but it’s literally the closest thing to an option kids have nowadays.
The internet is also a valuable resource for kids who are abused by their parents. Loving, responsible, understanding parents are also a privilege that not every child has. I see at least one teenager making a post about how they need money to leave their terrible living conditions every other day on multiple social media platforms. Folks love to dismiss those posts and tell those teens to just get a job. I don’t know how it is in other countries, but the job market in the US is terrible. First of all, you need at least a GED to qualify for the majority of minimum wage jobs; there are no one bedroom apartments in the US that are affordable on a minimum wage salary. Second, even jobs that usually hire teens like the fast food industry raised the hiring standard to unreasonable levels. Dominos now requires people to write cover letters to qualify for store front jobs. Third, thanks to A.I., entry level white collar jobs that don’t require a college degree like telemarketing are becoming obsolete. The barrier of entry with jobs is hard enough for able bodied neurotypical people with high school degrees. Imagine how much harder it is for disabled and/or neurodivergent teenagers who haven’t graduated yet or are homeschooled and don’t have diplomas at all. So for the majority of teenagers, art commissions and asking for communal support through donations are the safest, easiest, and most readily available options for them to earn money. Both of those revenue streams wouldn’t be an option if they were banned from being online.
The rebuttal to all of that is always that kids should just use irl resources to help with their plights. As someone who was abused by their step father, people severely underestimate how truly alone and helpless children are in those situations. The people who say that kids should talk to other trusted adults fail to understand that adults don’t listen to kids. Whenever a kid tells an adult that they’re being abused by their parents, they’ll either be told they’re lying, they’re exaggerating, or they’re just simply being disciplined and they deserved it. Guidance counselors don’t do anything besides just telling kids to stand up for themselves and tell them to stop or walk away. Neither of which are an option when it comes to someone who holds absolute power over them. Other adults in the family tend to be complacent or apathetic. Many of them operate on a “not my monkeys not my circus” and “keep that in you home” mindset, which basically leads to kids getting ignored. In worse cases, the other adults in the kid’s family will advocate for or absolve their parents of abuse: “They wouldn’t do that. You don’t know them like I do,” “They had a rough childhood, so cut them some slack,” “You think that’s abuse? That doesn’t hold a candle to the stuff my/our parents did me/us,” “They’re doing their best, so quite being so judgmental and ungrateful!” Child Protective Services doesn’t really do much for abused kids either because 9 out of 10 times, they take the parents’ side. The rare times parents do get punished by CPS, they get a few months of probation and maybe anger management, then just get sent home unmonitored. CPS only really helps when the child has visible scars, even then parents can lie about where the scars came from because it’s always a “he said she said” without evidence, or when the child is already dead. Most abusive parents also isolate their children, so going to friends isn’t a viable option either. Even if the kid had a friend they could confide in, their friend is a kid too. There’s only so much a kid could do to help another kid in that situation. Not to mention, if the kid’s friend’s parents are friends with their parents, then the same situation I mentioned about how other adults in the family aren’t always helpful will happen. his why the most common “solutions” for abused kids before the internet were to either to grin and bear it until they turn 18, run away and risk being trafficked or die from the elements, or commit suicide.
No comments:
Post a Comment