87% of Children in Indonesia Use Social Media Before They are 13 Years Old

Regardless of age and skill, anyone and everywhere can access social media. It is even said that as many as 92% of children from low-income families have been familiar with social media from an early age. This causes minors to get to know the digital world faster, even before their time. Many parents have given their children permission to use their smartphones without watching them. As a result, children explore on their own what they want to know without parental or adult supervision. That's why, as much as possible, parents pay more attention to what activities their children do when faced with a smartphone so that they are not exposed to the bad effects that it has. There are three main things that children will recognize or experience when they are exposed to social media before their time, there are: cyberbullying, pornography, and learn the harsh words.

The first thing children will recognize or experience when they are exposed to social media before their time is cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is bullying in cyberspace that aims to scare, annoy, humiliate, and unsettle the victim. Bullying behavior is now increasingly widespread, and even the perpetrators and victims are not infrequently minors. Bullies usually do their actions just for fun or for some reason. There are several reasons why perpetrators engage in cyberbullying: 1. To exact vengeance for previous oppression. 2. To look tough and cool. 3. There is envy towards the target. 4. The perpetrator does have a certain personality, which encourages him to enjoy doing it (Kawalski, Limber dan Agatston (2008). Cyberbullying perpetrators also appear to be more violent when carrying out their bullying actions because they feel safe when hiding behind the accounts, they use without having to meet face-to-face with the victims they bully. In cyberbullying, these negative actions are carried out by sending messages or images intended to injure, hurt, or embarrass others (Nawangsari Indah Kusuma Putri, 2021). That is why, one of the bad things that can be experienced by children when they get to know social media before their time is cyberbullying, because usually, children like this are still very unstable and innocent, they often make unintentional mistakes and end up being the target of bullying on social media.

The second thing children will recognize or experience when they are exposed to social media before their time is the access to pornographic content. Pornographic content is one of the things that can be easily accessed using a gadget in today's era, where everything is easy. The Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection revealed that 66.6 percent of boys and 62.3 percent of girls in Indonesia witnessed sexual activity (pornography) through online media (Raynaldo Ghiffari Lubabah, 2021). Sometimes content is accessed intentionally by children or appears by itself, as in the Chrome and Twitter apps. Pornographic content can usually be accessed accidentally by children because the application often pops up advertisements containing adult content. While on the Twitter application, children can usually easily access pornographic content there because the application does not have security or age requirements to access the adult content. Pornography addiction triggers the release of the hormone dopamine in the brain so that it will cause a sense of pleasure or happiness when watching pornographic content (Dina Rahmawati, 2019). That is why one of the bad things that can be experienced by children when they get to know social media before their time is knowing pornographic content because it will have a long-term impact and can make them addicted to it, because children at that age are still in the process of growth where their thinking and mentality are still not stable enough so that it can damage the nerves in the brain.

The third thing children will recognize or experience when they are exposed to social media before their time is that they will learn about harsh words. The language learned by children usually comes from the family and the surrounding environment. However, when it comes to social media, the development of language can also be studied there, both through knowing good and bad words. Children who are already able to use social media usually use the application to find friends and communicate with them. Some children think that by speaking harshly, they will be seen as slang, brave, or macho by their friends (BuGuruku, 2022). Apart from social media, games are also a place where children learn harsh words. When they lose the game, they will express that feeling by being rude and cursing. That is why one of the bad things that can be experienced by children when they get to know social media before their time is learning about harsh words. It can become a habit that will continue to be carried along until the child grows up, and that is certainly not a good thing because it is something that is not polite to say.

The minimum age applied in some applications as a condition to registering for their applications is 13 years. However, many children who are less than that age are familiar with the world of social media and are affected by some of its bad effects. Of the many impacts, there are three main things that will be felt or experienced by minors who are familiar with social media before their time: cyberbullying, recognizing and being able to access pornographic content, and learning about harsh words. Cyberbullying is an act of bullying that is carried out online. The reason the perpetrators do this is usually for fun, or because of the victim's actions and appearances on social media. In addition, being able to access pornographic content can also be easily accessed by children. The Twitter application is one platform that easily serves adult content there so that children can easily access it. And to learn and get to know harsh words. Nowadays, harsh words are no stranger to our ears. Therefore, underage children who like to imitate will often imitate a saying that they have often heard about and use it in their daily conversation. This is where the role of parents is needed in supervising what their children do when faced with gadgets. It is hoped that parents or adults will always supervise and direct children in the right direction so they don't fall into the bad impacts of social media and that it will have a bad impact on them in the future.