Would you leave your front door open so just anyone could walk into your home? Most teenagers leave their doors open to strangers everyday. Almost everyone around the world uses social networking but teenagers use it in their everyday lives. Some young adults use these sites appropriately, although some can abuse it by giving out personal information, seeking attention, and making fake profiles.

Teenagers all around the world share information online that only their closest friends and family should know like phone numbers, addresses, and age. Some people will still continue doing this because they feel that it does no harm, in reality it does. By giving out your personal information it opens up a door for people that you don’t even know to walk into your life. Sharing your address can harm you in many ways like burglary. People can even want to kidnap you and murder you. People can also steal your identity if you give out information freely. It takes one person to screenshot or forward what you post and it’s there forever.

Just like in school teenagers bully each other online. This can cause mental damage to the victim due to the fact that the words people say online can’t be erased, and will always come back to haunt them. Many teenagers feel that bullying online is harmful, but it can lead to suicide. A girl in South Williamsport last year committed suicide due to being bullied online, it wasn’t until after she died when everyone started to care about her. This isn’t the only way people seek attention online. People, mostly young girls can post revealing photos of them or others which makes them look “easy” and give them a bad reputation.

People can also make fake profiles and pose as someone they aren’t. For example some older man can act like he is younger and message young girls. To the girls this “boy” could seem absolutely harmless but more than likely he is trying to harm them. This person can ask the girl to hang out and most likely the girl will think nothing of it and say yes, this gives the man a chance to kidnap, rape, murder, and just hurt the girl in many ways.

Are you being safe online? Many teenagers feel that all their information is secured while they are on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, etc. but it isn’t, even by sharing personal things, seeking attention, and fake profiles can be unsafe to teenagers online. So before you log on, make sure you’re being safe.