Teachers: Supervising children's social media use is an important necessity

Lombok Tengah (ANTARA) - Supervising children’s use of social media is an important necessity to anticipate the negative impacts of information technology advancements, said Ernawati, a teacher at State Junior High School 3 Selong in East Lombok Regency.

“Parental supervision is very important in preventing the negative impacts of social media on children,” she said in East Lombok, East Nusa Tenggara, on Saturday.

She acknowledged that social media is actually necessary for children as it can serve as a platform to showcase talents and abilities, but it still requires supervision from parents.

She stated that the current use of social media by children lacks optimal supervision from parents, turning it into a place for bullying, mutual insults, and other issues, which are mostly carried out by minors with still unstable emotions and easily influenced.

“There is a parental control application on Google, so parents can monitor their children’s activities through mobile phones,” she said.

One teacher from Madrasah Jihudul Ummah in Puyung Village, Eny Yusrianti, stated that in principle she supports the central government’s policy on restricting social media for children under age.

“Indeed, every social media platform has had a minimum age rule of 13 years since the beginning,” she said.

“Perhaps to address cheating, every social media platform should require a photo of an ID card or student card,” she said.

She emphasised the importance of the government also developing supervision policies for other digital platforms that are risky in causing negative impacts on children, such as online games.

“For example, RP games (Role Play, Roblox). There, children are free to build their own world, which often goes beyond limits (for example, imagining dating, marriage, pregnancy),” she said.

One parent from Selong Ward, Rijal, expressed agreement with the social media restriction policy for children because its use by that group disrupts study time.

“We agree, that policy is an important step to protect children from various risks of social media technology advancements,” he said.

In addition, he said, unsupervised social media use can make children lose themselves or lose track of time.

“The negative impacts are more numerous, so supervision or restrictions are important,” he said.

The government is beginning to regulate children’s accounts on various social media platforms, such as YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X (Twitter), Bigo Live, and Roblox, gradually starting from 28 March 2026.

This is regulated in Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs Regulation No. 9 of 2026 as an implementing regulation related to Government Regulation No. 17 of 2025 on the Protection and Governance of Electronic System Operators in Child Protection (PP Tunas).