Parents urged to teach children about responsible social media use

Minister of Labour and Social Security, Pearnel Charles Jr, is encouraging parents to teach their children about responsible use of social media to better equip them to safely navigate their way through the digital space.

Noting that social media has many positives, including providing access to educational resources to enhance learning,  he said that when used  inappropriately “it is like consuming junk food”.

“If you eat [a lot of] junk food, you are going to get sick, even though it tastes good. If you put junk in your brain, the same thing will happen. Even though it feels good, and  you like to watch it, or you like to read or play the games, it is not going to do you any good,” he pointed out.

Minister Charles Jr., who was addressing a Boys’ Day event at Central High School in Clarendon recently, said that the answer is not to prevent access, but to prepare the children at an early age to make independent, sensible decisions regarding social media use.

“You cannot stop them from gaining access. If they don’t have a phone at home, when they come to school, somebody will have a phone. So, you just have to teach them to go onto the battlefield with the right artillery and to not try to keep them away from it,” he advised.

“You’re never too young to be responsible,”  he told the students, noting that they will make mistakes and when they do, they should learn from the experience “so that you don’t repeat those mistakes”.

The Minister told his audience that the Ministry has a “very deliberate” and strategic approach to putting out its information on social media and “we invite young, old, everyone to go on to our social media handles to access the various support programmes.

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