THIS is with reference to the letter ‘Parents and teenagers’ (Oct 5). I actually felt relieved knowing about the ‘Family Pairing’ option on TikTok, which allows the parents to control and monitor through the smartphones their child’s activity on the social media application.

The policy of disabling the direct messages option for children aged 13-15 years is also a step in the right direction because in many ways it is a vulnerable time in a teenager’s life.

It is good to see social medial platforms waking up to the reality that has made parents’ life tricky for years. Google also has a ‘Family Link’ option to limit the screen time of a child, while Apple has added parental control on its devices. Had it been done earlier, things might not have gone as far as they have, but, well, better late than never.

Teenagers fall victim to cybercrimes of various nature and intensity. It is because children these days have access to social media without any guidelines or awareness about what is at stake. Managing a teenager is a full-time task. The safest way ahead is for the parents to improve their own digital literacy to make the most of the various plpatforms while being able to protect their children from the pitfalls of social media usage.

Without improved digital literacy on the part of the parents, it will be difficult for them to access the options that are available to keep their children safe.

The argument that we do not know ‘how to operate these things’ is no more valid. Digital literacy is not an option for the parents today; it is a necessity.

Waheed Ahmed
Karachi

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2022