Yes, they do. As the school year is about to end, more and more children will spend more time staring at screens while busy parents continue to work. Even though parents try to find offline activities to balance time away from school, it is a fact that kids’ online time increases significantly during the summer break. While not at school, children try to fight boredom in different ways. They play video games, use tablets and smartphones, stream TV shows and sports events, chat with friends on social media. Or simply browse the internet. With so much exposure and often unsupervised screen time, youngsters sometimes end up seeing inappropriate content online. The free time during summer break has hidden risks that are worth addressing in advance.
Key takeaways
- Children spend significantly more time online during summer break.
- Kid filters deployed by Big Tech are imperfect and have flaws.
- Cyberbullying tends to increase during the summer.
- Excessive screen time is a real risk — balance and protection are essential.
Do kid filters have flaws?
They do! Parents often rely on filtering systems to protect their children from harmful or inappropriate content. However, filter flaws exist, and it is not uncommon for kids to get exposed to content that algorithms have somehow missed removing. Content on platforms such as YouTube Kids does not undergo strict human review; instead, it relies on technology. Most popular entertainment services come with powerful tools to protect kids. But sometimes inappropriate content finds its way onto the platform one way or another. It is also important to highlight that people have different values. And parents of one child may find certain content appropriate while others may not.
Does cyberbullying increase during the summer break?
Cyberbullying indeed increases significantly after school is over. In an attempt to keep kids together while physically apart, they often start communicating via text messaging apps and game chats. Chat platforms often come equipped with AI monitoring that monitors the chatrooms and flags inappropriate conversations and content. But having kids talking and texting to each other also opens the doors for bullies to continue what they were likely doing at school – bullying other kids. Cyberbullying can happen in many places – group and private texts, in-game chat rooms, social media, etc.
Increased screen time itself presents a problem.
Experts and parents often discuss children’s exposure to screens, and summer break increases the time kids spend online, which can become a problem. Excessive screen time of the wrong kind harms children’s development. Full-time sports camps are not exactly affordable either, so kids end up looking for entertainment on phones, tablets, and gaming consoles. It is not a secret that youngsters often prefer entertainment and games to reading books and solving math problems.
Luckily, some tools are not as expensive and could be helpful when kids end up on a connected device. Some antivirus software solutions offer parental controls that prevent kids from accessing potentially harmful websites and monitor children’s online behavior while browsing the internet. The tools included in such cyber protection solutions also often provide supervision of games and apps, and monitor children’s activity. In some cases, complete family cyber protection packages include additional perks, such as geolocation and a panic button that alerts parents immediately if their child is in trouble. Big Tech filters come with flaws, and additional layer of security is always beneficial.
Banning children from screens, the internet, and entertainment is an option too. But they are unlikely to be happy about it. Screen time, when moderated, also offers benefits such as educational value and opportunities to teach kids about digital hygiene and literacy. Getting them completely cut off from tech presents a tempting option. But also comes with challenges, as too much boredom and unstructured time can be problematic. However, finding a balance between pure boredom, physical, and online activities is possible. Ensuring the kids are safeguarded while online is as important as watching them while playing outdoors or just hanging out at home.