Social media is an enormous and omnipresent reality of our global communications. It's everywhere! As such, it has its advantages if you take the time to investigate each platform's purpose and the benefits it can bring to your daily life. Sadly, it can also be deadly in ways designers never imagined. Almost 95% of pre-teens and adolescents from countries all over the globe use varieties of social media for multiple hours a day. Do parents know what their children and teens are watching every day? In most cases, they do not. Herein lies the danger and the pathway to potential tragedy.
In this broadcast of Tom McNulty's MindSet, we provide food for thought about social media in general. There are pros and cons when we can communicate with strangers. The human brain is not fully developed until around age 25. Adolescents are not equipped or prepared to deal with message overload from cell phones and laptops. In fact, many young people are trying to "belong" to something bigger than themselves and reach into areas used to deceive. "Catfishing" is a giant net cast out by predators, human traffickers, those involved in sexting/sextortion, and individuals misrepresenting their identity to pretend to be someone else. Typically, someone engaged in catfishing is searching for a vulnerable victim they can manipulate, embarrass, seduce for sexual favors, threaten, or engage in ruining a person's reputation. While many have a diagnosable mental illness, it does not excuse their planned attacks on social media nor does it mean that individuals with a mental illness are all "catfishing" on the Internet. The critical message in this broadcast is directed at parents, grandparents, and caregivers to be knowledgeable and hypervigilant about what social media and other sites their children and teens are using. Start with an open discussion and encourage honesty (with immunity) as you talk to your children about the very real dangers of engaging in conversational chats with strangers. Not sure? Talk to a behavioral health expert, police officer, or the FBI (I spoke with an FBI agent a few years ago). This is NOT a subject to take lightly. "Catfishing" can be deadly. Thank you for caring enough to listen. Please share this podcast with other parents.