Social media is a new way to communicate and share information among friends and families, as well for people with similar interests to meet. Therefore, it is a shared instrument of communication.
Engaging in various forms of social media is now a routine activity especially to children. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram are just few examples of social media sites that offer multiple daily opportunities for connecting with friends, family, classmates, and other people. It is a venue where children make new friends, share pictures, and exchange ideas.
It is also shown to benefit children by enhancing communication, social connection, and even technical skills. More time spent with social media can help young introverted people and those who experience shyness to gain comfort and confidence in social interactions. Shy children can make new friends and build friendships online.
Social media can have educational benefits for children as well. Children are able to learn and become proficient with technology, develop their creative abilities, appreciate new and different perspectives, and enhance their communication skills.
Technology may even help children better cope with stress. Technology can mitigate stress by providing children with more outlets to express their feelings of stress. Social media can also provide them with social support, which can act as buffer against stressors. Facebook postings and instant messaging likewise enable children to find useful information that may help them reduce stress.
Social media may also improve family relationships and encourage feelings of connectedness. It enables families to have quality time and pursue activities of shared interest.
However, although there are real benefits to kids using social media and new technology, there can be serious downsides to all these, too. Most risks fall under the following categories:
Cyber-bullying and online harassment
Cyber-bullying is defined as intentionally using digital media to communicate false, embarrassing, or hostile information about another person. This is the most common online risk for all teens and is a per-to-peer risk.
This can happen to any young children and can cause profound psycho-social problems, including but not limited to depression, anxiety, severe isolation, and tragically, suicide.
Sexting
Sexting can be defined as sending, receiving or forwarding sexually explicit messages, photographs, or images through cell phones, computers, or other digital devices.
Facebook depression
There is no doubt Facebook is one of the most powerful forms of media for communication today. More than billion users chat, share photos, and keep their friends and family up-to-date on their lives regularly.
Yet, there is a dark side to its use and that of other social media, including anxiety, psychiatric disorders, and a range of unhealthy behaviors. Acceptance by and contact with peers is still an important element of adolescent life. Teens who suffer from Facebook depression are at risk of social isolation. It develops when pre-teens and teens spend a great deal of time in Facebook.
Privacy concerns
The risks to preadolescents and adolescents online today come from each other, improper use of technology, lack of privacy, sharing too much information, or posting false information about themselves or others.
Influence of advertisements on buying
Many social media sites display multiple advertisements such as banner ads, behavior ads (ads that target people on the basis of their Web-browsing behavior), and demographic-based ads (ads that target people on the basis of a specific factor such as age, gender, education, marital status, etc.). These form of advertisements influence not only the buying tendencies of preadolescents and adolescents but also their views on what is normal.
Next week, we will share ways how you can protect your kids from the downsides of social media and how to utilize social media for their holistic development.
Sources:
http://pediatrcis.aappublications.org
http://parentingtodayskids.com
http://fastcompany.com
The Freeman and the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. is running weekly features on Early Childhood Care and Development to emphasize the importance of Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) and to increase public support for ECCD. For comments or suggestions, e-mail Hannah.Aranas@rafi.org.ph.