The Pros and Cons Of Cyber Awareness To Teenagers

The Pros and Cons Of Cyber Awareness To Teenagers

A skill that is crucial for daily life, quality of work, and personal pursuits in our world today is cyber awareness. The levels of cyber awareness or technological savviness in general that were once regarded as exceptional or impressive are now considered to be essential or common abilities. 

 

One must therefore be proactive in their level of cyber awareness if they don’t want to lag. We should now see increasing our cyber awareness as a chance to learn how to simplify our lives and a necessary adaptation to survive on earth instead of something we must grudgingly drag to keep up with.

 

This is even more true for teenagers who are born into a fully digital generation. Whether consciously or unconsciously, their level of cyber awareness will continue to advance and this comes with both advantages and advantages which we shall be exploring in this article.

 

But for definitions, what is cyber awareness?

What is Cyber Awareness?

Cyber awareness comprises two components which are understanding and using technology. It has to do with the capacity to locate, utilize, and produce tools and resources online in a positive and helpful manner. Cyber awareness also entails being aware of the limitations of technology as well as the risks and safety measures associated with its use. 

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It’s not the same as having computer literacy. Undoubtedly, using a computer is a component of it. However, cyber awareness encompasses more than just using a computer. 

 

Cyber awareness can be simple or complex. In its most basic form, it refers to skills like being able to utilize social media, navigate a website, and send emails. However, it also refers to a better comprehension of the technology that permeates our lives. It can also be as complex as having technical software abilities like building an app, a website, or a blog.

Pros of Cyber Awareness To Teenagers

Below are a few of the various advantages teenagers receive by having increased cyber awareness. There are countless other ways that developing cyber awareness can enhance their lives, therefore this is by no means an exhaustive list.

1. It Helps Them Learn More Quickly and Teach Others

The more you use digital technology and the more cyber awareness you get, the simpler it is to pick up new skills or get more knowledge. These include both the skills to use these digital devices better and general skills applicable to life.

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There are several free and easily accessible learning platforms that exist both on social media (like YouTube) and dedicated learning platforms (like Coursera).

 

For the digital skill development, many websites and apps function extremely similar to one another, particularly when it comes to navigation or content distribution. It will therefore get simpler to keep up with the latest movements and things you need to understand the more you just jump in and try using more gadgets, websites, and applications without having to go through any steep learning curve.

 

Complimentary to fast and easy learning, increased cyber awareness among teenagers also creates an easy channel to share their knowledge which also solidifies learning.

 

Teenagers can easily share their knowledge and teach their skills on Facebook and Twitter even if they don’t want to utilize well-established platforms like YouTube which demand much investment. As simple as this seems, teenagers may change from being the individual who needs to solicit assistance every time to the person who everyone calls for help by just endeavoring to learn and then attempting to assist others.

2. It Eliminates the Digital Divide

The term “digital divide” is used to describe the gap between people who use technology regularly and seem to comprehend it naturally and people who either struggle to understand it or try to avoid it. This is another pro of cyber awareness among teenagers.

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One of the reasons why there are more young successful businessmen and inventors in more developed countries than in developing countries is because those in the developed countries have been exposed to more technologies and possibilities than those in third-world countries. This is the digital divide and it is a huge limitation for victims. 

 

Even in the same nation, the level of cyber awareness different individuals has determines the level of leverage they will have in today’s world. 

 

Increased cyber awareness is the teenagers’ ticket to switching sides for those who belong to the disadvantaged group. They may simply learn how to use modern technology and incorporate them into their daily life. It only needs a little bit of motivation (which is mostly there), accessibility, and work.

3. Easy Access To News and Information About the World

Another benefit of teenagers having increased cyber awareness is being able to access information from libraries hundreds of kilometers away and stay up to date on news events around the globe. 

ALSO, READ How To Protect And Control Your Children’s Cyberspace

Information can now travel the world in a couple of milliseconds like never before but those without cyber awareness will still have no access to it. Several of the challenges we go through as humans become walkovers once we have adequate information about them.

 

Teenagers can access news and information about a new disease and take precautions, about market trends, mental health issues, their peculiarities as teenagers, and so on. 

4. Cyber Security and Safety

Gaining cyber awareness and understanding appropriate online standard precautions can help to increase the online safety of teenagers when applied successfully. You can appear anonymously, safeguard your personal information, and take further safety precautions in a variety of ways. 

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This possibility is clearly evident in the fact that the people who are the victims of cyber crimes the most are the aged. They are victims because they don’t know. So cyber awareness empowers teenagers to be able to navigate the web wisely and protect themselves from cyber-attacks.

 

And whenever they are on websites they are unsure of, they can quickly learn what the website does to protect their information and what will happen if anything is compromised by reading the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

 

Technology use carries several risks, so one should make sure they fully comprehend it and are aware of how to take precautions. Going online can really help you feel safer overall if you take acceptable security measures.

5. Easier Access To Job Opportunities

The necessity of having to visit a particular employer’s location with your CV in hand to apply for jobs is gradually fading away. Similar to many other things, employment is going online, and frequently, many resumes and job applications are only accepted online. 

 

Many companies have their own online applications set up, or at the very least demand that you email your CV. If teenagers must keep up with the trend in the world of work, they must ensure that their level of cyber awareness is appreciable.

 

But that is not all. Increased cyber awareness can also give teenagers access to international job opportunities which will not come to them on a regular day. They can simply create a professional internet profile on a website like LinkedIn to keep up or be more proactive and pitch for jobs in preferred organizations.

 

ALSO, READ Top 10 Best Cyber Security Agencies In USA 2022

 

Cons of Cyber Awareness Among Teenagers 

 

1. Increased Susceptibility To Engage In Cyber Crimes 

Most of the cybercriminals caught are people in their 20s. And a reason they are able to engage in those criminal activities is because they have been exposed to them early. This is one disadvantage of cyber awareness for teenagers. 

 

Because one characteristic of the teenage age is experimentation, if they are not monitored, teenagers can continue to experiment with things until they are caught up in vices they can no longer let go of.

2. Laziness 

Computers are excellent tools for reducing manual labor, but they may also encourage laziness. Sometimes teenagers, who are mostly students, will just copy and paste content from the internet or store their notes digitally rather than writing them down by hand.

ALSO, READ Privacy And Safety Precautions For Gadget Users 2022

But laziness spans beyond just schooling. Although tools like Google Assistance, Siri, and on and on are to make life easier, teenagers can now rely solely on them for mental and physical activities and this brings with it health and psychological implications.

3. Poor Socialization

Although a major part of the inherent internet is social media, digital devices do not give the best form of socialization there is. There is a distinction between physical interactions and online interactions but because of increased cyber awareness, it is almost impossible that online relationships will not take over relationships in general.

 

A person’s emotional sensations and thoughts cannot be expressed through computer-mediated communication. In order for teenagers to develop stronger relationships, real-world social engagement must be constantly promoted. This 

4. Addiction

The height of the disadvantages of cyber awareness among teenagers is assisting. The internet has a wide range of features that might become addictive to teenagers. Social media and games are a few among them.

 

The teens may become distracted from important stuff and lose precious time, become less productive, and contribute nothing to society because all their time is spent on the internet.

Conclusion

We have seen some of the pros and cons, benefits, and disadvantages of cyber awareness among teenagers. With just a little intentionality and supervision, there is more for teenagers to gain than to lose through cyber awareness. As we said, cyber awareness is not just another item on the nice-to-have list, it is a necessity for this generation.

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