How can minors make good use of social apps?
Infringement of minors' rights and interests due to online social networking has occurred from time to time
● In recent years, minors who are the net generation have spent a lot of time on online entertainment, socializing, learning and consumption.
Some online acquaintance social or semi-acquaintance social, game social, knowledge social products are deeply loved by minors
● It is difficult for minors to ensure safety when using social apps, and incidents of minors’ rights and interests being violated due to online social networking have occurred from time to time; in addition, although some social apps have set up an identity authentication system, they are useless, causing some minors to use "Streaking" on social apps
● Minors should improve their correct understanding of the use of social apps; parents should guide and manage children scientifically; app operators should enrich and optimize the supply of information content that teenagers are interested in; Case interpretation and other popular science and law popularization paths, timely teach students how to use social apps correctly and healthily
□ Zhang Shoukun, a trainee reporter of this newspaper
□ Our reporter Wen Lijuan
"Mr. Zhao, I wish you a happy birthday. Today I prepared a birthday surprise for you with a few friends. Can I add you as a friend and pull you into our group?"
"Okay, thank you, the teacher is looking forward to it."
Early in the morning on May 15 (Sunday), Zhao Lin, a third-grade teacher in a primary school in Hedong District, Tianjin, received a text message from a student.
This day is Zhao Lin's birthday, and the students made various videos of birthday wishes for her: two classmates used different materials to create a pattern of "Mr. Zhao Happy Birthday" in the "Mini World" mobile game; Edited a happy birthday video; some students used the app to shoot the emoji function and recorded a blessing emoji package.
While deeply impressed by the students, Zhao Lin also has some concerns: they are only in the third grade of elementary school, they have their own social accounts, and they are very skilled at playing.
Are their parents aware of their children's use of social apps?
Can they safely use these social apps?
In recent years, minors who are the net generation have spent a lot of time on online entertainment, socializing, learning and consumption.
Some online acquaintance social or semi-acquaintance social, game social, knowledge social products, etc., are deeply loved by minors.
However, a reporter from the "Rules of Law Daily" recently found that it is difficult for minors to ensure safety when using social apps, and incidents of minors' rights and interests being violated due to online social networking have occurred from time to time; in addition, some social apps have set up an identity authentication system. , but in name only, causing some minors to "run streaking" on social apps.
A number of interviewed experts pointed out that minors themselves need to improve their correct understanding of the use of social apps; from the perspective of parents, children should be scientifically guided and managed so that children can use various types of Internet reasonably product; From the perspective of App operators, it is necessary to enrich and optimize the supply of information content that young people are interested in; Students teach how to use social apps properly and healthily.
Social apps are heavily used
A little careless can easily happen
Not long ago, the research group of China Youth Research Center "Use of Online Social Products for Minors and Protection of Rights and Interests" conducted a survey on a certain social app and found that social apps have deeply penetrated into the lives of minors. More than 60% of the accounts are underage.
The top two reasons that minors use the social app with the highest proportion are: facilitating communication; watching school homework and notices, etc.
After experiencing the blessings sent by students' social apps, Zhao Lin also paid special attention to the children's use of social apps.
She noticed that some first grade and even kindergarten students have their own social app accounts.
She didn't understand: why would such a young child use social apps?
Xinxin is Zhao Lin's student. She has had her own social app account since the second grade.
Now, she has been able to skillfully use the functions of adding friends, group chat, video account, and mini games in the app.
In response to this situation, Xinxin's mother believes that instead of guarding against it, it is better to explain to her children the various functions of these social apps and what to pay attention to when making friends.
For example, the wallet function, Xinxin's mother encourages her child to deposit the New Year's money into the wallet every year. When the child wants to buy a blind box or snacks, she will ask the child to spend his New Year's money, "Spending your own money will feel distressed, so that the child will have the money. concept, and you will think more about it when you spend more money.”
It is worth noting that not all parents have a rational attitude towards social apps like Xinxin’s mother, and not all minors can use social apps in a healthy and reasonable manner.
In addition to spending too much time and overusing social apps, some minors are also easily affected by bad information in some social apps.
Xiaocha, a high school student in Yibin City, Sichuan Province, has been using a social app for several years. He often receives messages from unfamiliar "beauties" saying hello. After chatting, he finds that the other party is trying to extort money through naked chat.
According to Zhang Hai, a teacher from a middle school in Suzhou City, Anhui Province, in September last year, a student in his class wanted to change his mobile phone but was afraid to tell his parents. He met a person who specialized in selling second-hand mobile phones from a social app and ordered it for more than 2,000 yuan. A mobile phone, after receiving the goods, it was found that the mobile phone could not be used at all, and the seller had blocked it when contacting the seller.
"Similar incidents happen once or twice in schools every year. No matter how much emphasis is placed on not trusting strangers on social apps, many students are still deceived." Zhang Hai said.
Property damage is relatively light, and cases of minors being seriously violated by credulousness in strangers on social apps also occur from time to time: the Yuanzhou District People’s Court in Guyuan, Ningxia once issued a document saying that on a day in July 2021, only 16 years old The year-old Xiaohua met Zhang through a social app.
After the two met offline, Zhang Mouxin raped him and filmed a nude video of Xiaohua with his mobile phone.
Afterwards, Zhang threatened to have sex with him again by circulating a nude video.
In the end, Xiaohua chose to call the police, and Zhang was also brought to justice.
Authentication system is useless
Grading mode is not as expected
What are the reasons for minors to "run naked" on some social apps?
The reporter's investigation found that although some social apps clearly marked "Age Rating 17+", that is, the application's registration information recommends that people over 17 years old can download, the 17+ category apps may contain "frequent and intense offensive language; frequent and intense cartoon, fantasy or realistic violence; frequent and intense adult, horror and sexually suggestive themes; pornographic content, nudity, tobacco, alcohol and drugs”, but these social apps do not have identity authentication settings, even if they have an authentication system, they are useless. Age, gender, etc. can be arbitrarily set.
For example, some social apps require the user to enter the date of birth to verify that the age must be over 18 years old, otherwise the registration cannot be used, but in fact, the date of birth can be entered at will without authentication.
In some social apps that explicitly state that only users over the age of 18 can use it, the reporter found that there is a teen mode in its settings.
One user commented that if it is true that only adults can use these software, why set up a teenage mode?
There are also some social apps that, although they have a teen mode, are rarely used by minors and their parents.
Zhao Lin told reporters that there are about 10 students with social accounts in her class, but none of them have set up a youth mode, and many parents don't even know that social apps have a youth mode.
After understanding, Zhao Lin found that there are three main reasons why some parents are reluctant to set the youth mode: the content in the youth mode is monotonous, the functions in the youth mode are too few, and the prompt to turn on the youth mode is always annoying.
"The content pushed in the youth mode of various apps is very boring, and there is still a ban period from night to the next morning, and many basic functions cannot be used. Even if parents turn on the youth mode, there are many cracking tutorials on the Internet. You can find it by just searching." Xiao Cha said.
Zhang Hongwei, a professor at the Juvenile and Family Law Research Center of Jinan University, told reporters that the classification of social apps is indeed necessary, which is of great practical significance for regulating the legal operation of operators and the healthy use of social apps by minors.
"Currently, there are many reasons, such as grading and juvenile mode, which have not achieved the expected results, but the main reason is that parents or other guardians have yet to strengthen their understanding of the grading model, and minors themselves are puzzled or resisted by the grading model. There is also a lack of technology in the identification of age at the time of registration. These require all parties to attach great importance to and handle them properly.” Zhang Hongwei said.
Take multiple measures to work together
Make good use of social apps
All kinds of social apps are attractive to children, but adults such as parents and teachers "love and hate" the use of social apps by minors.
Is it necessary for minors to use social apps?
Zhang Hongwei believes that minors have been in constant physical and mental changes, especially after entering adolescence, they are increasingly influenced by peers, virtual worlds and other outside families.
The traditional authoritarian or authoritarian family education methods are facing many impacts, and they have also had many impacts on the physical and mental development of minors.
On the other hand, social apps provide a medium for some minors to escape or distance themselves from the constraints of traditional family upbringing, and also provide a platform for them to gain recognition and comfort in their peers and other interactions.
According to Zhu Di, a researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and deputy director of the Research Office of Adolescent and Education Sociology, social apps play an important role in the lives of minors, such as learning, obtaining information, keeping in touch with classmates and friends, and entertaining. Leisure, decompression and relaxation, etc., can meet the needs of minors at all levels and in all aspects.
"Although the mental development and social experience of minors are at an immature stage, they may use social apps improperly, including indulging in addiction or accepting some bad information, but they cannot be particularly 'perfect' protection for minors. Instead, we should guide minors to actively use the Internet to empower themselves." Judy said.
So how to ensure that minors use social apps safely and reasonably?
The above-mentioned research group proposed that it is very necessary for adults to form a democratic, respectful, communicative and understanding way of getting along with the aborigines in the Internet age, strengthen parent-child communication, and be more tolerant and accepting of minors.
We call on parents not only to provide their children with democratic and harmonious intergenerational communication and parenting methods, but also to actively undertake educational responsibilities, provide scientific guidance and management to children, and enable children to use various Internet products reasonably.
Judy believes that from the perspective of app operators, it is still necessary to enrich and optimize the supply of information content that young people are interested in.
"A lot of content in teenage mode is really safe, but it's relatively monotonous and of poor quality, and kids either give up using it, or try to bypass the teenage protection mode and make it useless," Judy said.
Zhang Hongwei suggested that schools can teach students how to use social apps correctly and healthily through legal science courses, scenario simulations, and case-based interpretation of law and other popular science and law popularization paths. Minors themselves also need to improve their correct understanding of the use of social apps. It can solve the learning, social and entertainment needs through correct use, without indulging in it. When encountering difficult problems, you should promptly report and ask your parents or teachers for help.