Health information on the internet, when you should trust
They say that parents, besides their profession, must exercise others at home: teachers to help with the chores to their children, soccer players to play with the little ones, storytellers and in certain occasions doctors and nurses. When a child falls or becomes ill, they are their parents, who usually provide first aid and decide if a visit to a specialist is necessary.
However, with the arrival of Internet and the information seekers many parents are tempted to consult on the network about what happens to their children. This can lead to stressful situations when finding answers that indicate that what happens to the child is much worse than what happens. Therefore, it is convenient to know where to look and to what extent it is necessary to pay attention.
What information does it offer?
From the FAROS Foundation a series of guidelines is given to the parents so that they can know where they should look for information and what they should look for before paying attention or not to what they find in a determined web:
- The contents of the page must be recent and updated. A previous study has been refuted over the years, so they must include the date of writing or review of the articles.
- References to the original sources on the basis of which they are elaborated. These must be present in the form of hyperlinks. An article without sources may have been written by anyone on your blog.
- Avoid all information that wants to replace the figure of the doctor. These contents guide and complement, never supplant the specialist.
- Doubt of those information that ask for an economic consideration or that want to do business with these issues.
Bulos on the internet
Sometimes false information is not sought by parents, but comes to mobiles and emails in the form of a hoax. These contents go from greater to lesser severity. In some cases they can give rise to a scam in which someone promises to the children a succulent prize for a small amount of money. A deception that pretends to take advantage of the naivety of the little ones to enrich the people behind this scam.
In other cases, the hoax creates an unnecessary alert by making parents believe false information. For example, a story about the alleged contamination of certain foods or the rumor that in a certain park kidnap to other minors. Situations that sometimes ends up creating a hysteria by an invented notice.
You have to understand that it is important not to spread the hoaxes once they are received because they are false and can create a alarm in society no need. It is easy to recognize them because they use arguments like "they told me what happened in X place", "Confirmed" or "I read it in a group where a police friend is".
You have to have a critical spirit before the whole information found on the internet and that does not come from the usual channels. In case of being a scam, it is important to inform the security forces to try to find the responsible people and put an end to this situation.
Damián Montero
