Social media usage is one of the most common activities of today’s children and adolescents. Even for adults it has become part of our daily lives and some of us cannot go a day without being connected. Social media is defined as any website that allows social interaction such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, blogs, and gaming sites and virtual words such as Club Penguin, and the Sims. Over the last few years, more children and adolescents have become part of the growing social media community. Because of this, it is very important for parents to know what social media platforms their children visit since not all of them are healthy environments. Although children and adolescents are at risk for cyberbullying, “Facebook depression”, sexting, and exposure to inappropriate content, social media provides a socialization and communication platform among other benefits. So before you stop your child from using social media altogether or, on the other hand, allow them to access social media without restriction, take a look at the good and the bad.
The Good
Social media allows children to develop social and communication skills that can be used offline by staying connected with family and friends, making new friends, and exchanging ideas. According to the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, social media offers adolescents the following benefits:
• Opportunities for community engagement
• Enhancement of individual and collective creativity through development and sharing of artistic and musical endeavors
• Growth of ideas from the creation of blogs, podcasts, videos, and gaming sites
• Expansion of one’s online connections through shared interests to include others from more diverse backgrounds (such communication is an important step for all adolescents and affords the opportunity for respect, tolerance, and increased discourse about personal and global issues)
• Fostering of one’s individual identity and unique social skills
Social media allows children and adolescents to stay connected with the family and friends that they don’t get to see on a daily basis and allows them to continue their relationship. It may also help children when they’re upset about a friend moving away.
The Bad
Along with the good comes the bad. Social media can be a risk for all but children and adolescents are more susceptible. They are more likely to click one of those “Click here to win an iPod” or “Click here to watch a really cool video” schemes making them vulnerable to inappropriate content and computer viruses.
They are also more likely to over share information including personal information and pictures due to their lack of online privacy understanding. What a lot of children and adolescents don’t realize is that the Internet does not have a delete key. Whether it is a post, a picture or a video, it will stay on the Internet forever. It may not be searchable but it is still there. Take Facebook for example. If you delete your account and log back in a few months later, your account will be fully restored. How? Facebook doesn’t actually remove things, they just make it invisible to public search. Snapchat is another example. If you are not familiar with Snapchat, it is an application used to share moments, videos, and drawings and only allows you to view them for a maximum of 10 seconds and then it disappears. You can also send messages and those can be saved if you chose to. If someone replays the “snap” or takes a screenshot, it notifies the sender. Snapchat has become insanely popular among teens and young adults for the fact that they can send inappropriate content that disappears within a few seconds. They think those pictures and videos are lost forever. They couldn’t be more wrong. Snapchat has admitted that the shared content does not evaporate. The underlying technology allows the content to be lurking on a server.
Credit: Jason Raish
Children and adolescents are also susceptible to cyberbullying, sexting and “Facebook depression”. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), “cyberbullying is deliberately using digital media to communicate false, embarrassing, or hostile information about another person”. Cyberbullying can occur to any young person online and can result in psychosocial issues such as depression, anxiety, isolation, and, unfortunately, suicide. Sexting can be defined as sending, receiving or forwarding sexually explicit messages, photographs, or images via cell phone, computer or other digital devices. This occurs mainly among the teen population. The consequences of sexting include felony child pornography charges although some states characterize the behavior as juvenile-law misdemeanors, school suspension and emotional distress for the victims. Researchers have proposed a new phenomenon called “Facebook depression”. According to the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, “Facebook depression” is defined as depression that develops when preteens and teens spend a great deal of time on social media sites, such as Facebook, and then begin to exhibit classic symptoms of depression. This does not mean that Facebook causes depression, but that depressed feelings and lots of time on Facebook and comparing oneself to others tend to go hand in hand.
Limiting time on social media, teaching responsibility and encouraging socialization offline should help children and adolescents have a balance between real life and the online world. Just as they are prepared for life in the real world, they should also be prepared for life in the online world.
Reference:
O’Keeffe, G., & Clarke-Pearson, K. (2011, April 1). The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families. Retrieved July 29, 2015: Direct Link
Featured Photo Credit: tech2date.com
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