Bullied and Battered; Minister’s verdict on devastating effect of social media on children
Jim Daly, a Government minister, is concerned about the adverse impact of electronic media on children. Unfortunately, they are not carefully regulated; thus, numerous children suffer from pressure. Therefore, the government takes action to eliminate the issue with new regulations. The devastation effect of social platforms is evident to their founders as well. For example, Evan Spiegel, who created Snapchat, claimed that he restricted his stepson to 90 minutes of screen time a week. Moreover, social media can be the reason of tragic cases such as the infant’s death caused by the negligence of the mother checking Instagram and Facebook.
Parents fear social media’s effect on children’s character; Research suggests majority consider Twitter, Facebook and others have negative influence
Despite the fact that social media sites have launched relatively recently, it is challenging to imagine the world without Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram nowadays. However, many parents believe that electronic media have a damaging effect on childhood moral development. The poll conducted by the Jubilee Center for Character and Virtues at Birmingham University showed that most parents noticed the harmful effects of social media on their children but not the positive ones. Besides, they stated that they observed anger, hostility, arrogance, ignorance, bad judgment, and hatred on social media sites. Therefore, as reported by the poll, most parents were convinced that electronic media negatively influenced youngsters’ moral development.
Possible Effects of Internet Use on Cognitive Development in Adolescence
The fact that most adolescents have a constant connection to the Internet triggers many concerns regarding their cognitive development. Parents and policymakers worry about such cognitive processes as memory, analytical thinking, multitasking, processing social cues, social competence, and social evaluation. However, recently conducted research reveals that most of their concerns are unreasonable. For example, adolescents can switch tasks faster, more successfully integrate into peer groups, and more thoughtfully analyze the reliability of information nowadays due to the widespread Internet use. Dr. Kate Mills suggests that most cognition changes are just adaptations to the rapidly changing world but not the reasons for concerns. Hence, it is crucial not to reject changes but to analyze them.
Social media and adolescents: What are the health risks?
It is essential to pay more attention to the health risks from social media sites to adolescents, as they are becoming more popular. Many studies on the subject from 2012 revealed that social media are correlated to lower self-esteem, anxiety, depression, negative body image, sleep deprivation, and cyberbullying. What is more, the correlations are even stronger when the time children spend in front of screens increases. Facebook, Reddit, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and YouTube are among the most popular social media platforms, which attract millions of users all over the world. Healthcare providers, teachers, and parents need to be aware of the issue and take action to eliminate the adverse consequences of excessive smartphone use by adolescents.
Worry over kids’ excessive smartphone use is more justified than ever before
Parents, who are concerned about the excessive portable device use by their children, have justifiable reasons to worry. The study funded by the National Institute of Health revealed that screen time has a negative impact on a child’s brain. Even though many individuals argue that the panic over adolescents spending too much time in front of screens is the same as the one surrounding watching too much TV, many scholars have a different perspective. Jean Twenge noted that smartphones are more psychologically stimulating than television, and children can carry them everywhere. It leads to sleep deprivation and constant distractions. Fortunately, different restrictions such as less than two hours of screen time a day or no devices before bedtime can improve the situation.