Nicole Madison Lovell, a 13-year-old girl, was found murdered near the Virginia-North Carolina state line. The suspects, David Eisenhauer, 18, and Natalie M. Keepers, 19, are linked to her murder and were arrested Feb. 7. The connection between Lovell and the suspects appeared to begin through social media. Weeks later, Lovell was found stabbed to death. There are ways to avoid dangerous encounters like this. An older sister of Lovell’s friend from school said that the friends have banded together to steer clear of most social media, a stance that should be widely taken by many students.
Social media has proven to be a gateway for inappropriate relationships and illegal activities such as kidnapping, drug exchanges, statutory rape and distribution of child pornography — all of which have become more prevalent through the development of social media in our generation. It can be argued that there needs to be more age restrictions placed on social media, but enforcing these restrictions would be difficult at best and potentially overbearing, infringing upon our right to privacy. With these restrictions, there is a potential risk of loss of revenue due to advertisers rebelling. Furthermore, it would be challenging for computer programmers to physically implicate these constraints, let alone virtually. These daunting tasks are nearly impossible, regardless of the amount of money and man hours contributed towards it.
Instead of creating laborious and unnecessary ideas that are faraway from being achieved, there is a more obvious answer. More parental supervision for the impressionable teens and preteens. Greater parental supervision has to come from those who provide the basic moral guidance to young people. A strong moral foundation would guide our youth to make decisions rooted in solid judgment and less impulsive actions, but parents and caregivers must realize the inherent dangers that are associated with free flowing unadulterated information it is as much of a parent’s responsibility to protect our youth as it is the youth’s responsibility to make wise decisions.
There have been more incidents in the past where social media acts as a platform for bullying. Countless cases have occurred where people were bullied into committing suicide. According to New York Daily News, in April of 2015, a 12-year-old Iowa girl committed suicide after being bullied for her sexual orientation.
Internet safety plays a large role in protecting people from Internet crimes. If more people were aware of the potential harms that could arise from using social media, crimes such as the Lovell case- can be completely avoided.
Unfortunately, incidents like these are not uncommon. With more parental supervision, teens and preteens are more aware of their actions and less likely to make a risky call when it comes to posting that picture or contacting that person they do not know.
