Electronic Media
Many popular social media platforms have been launched in the last two decades, and it may be challenging to imagine the modern world without them. They have attracted billions of individuals worldwide and have significantly affected different aspects of their everyday lives. Without any doubt, the most active users of electronic media are teenagers who are, at the same time, the most vulnerable and susceptible to outside influence (Montgomery 1). Hence, it is vital to understand what effect the Internet and electronic media may have on them. On the one hand, healthcare providers, policymakers, teachers, and parents raise numerous concerns regarding the effect of social media sites on children. They mostly pay attention to the adverse impact of excessive smartphone use and rarely discuss the positive sides of portable devices. Depression, sleep deprivation, negative body image, and cyberbullying are only a few consequences of electronic media use. It is stated that this is the result of improper regulation of social media sites (“Bullied and Battered; Minister’s Verdict On Devastating Effect of Social Media On Children” 1). For example, sleep deprivation is a major issue among regular smartphone and tablet users (Twenge 1). On the other hand, many people note that the panic surrounding the problem is as unreasonable as concerns about television. They also believe that electronic media simplify different processes and create numerous opportunities for children to learn and communicate. Therefore, it is essential to analyze the issue more deeply, as it triggers vigorous debates and is highly relevant in the modern world.
Online Presence
Although historically virtual space was secondary in relation to the real world, the internet is a place where communication can be influential, and any form of information can be transferred effortlessly. The advent of the Internet allowed virtual interface to take place, which became a resource for many and opened up additional opportunities in social networking. The anonymity that is acceptable online enables an individual to experiment with a wide range of identities and social roles without fear of condemnation and social judgment or social sanctions that would follow when communicating live. Online teenagers can pretend that they are of a different gender, age, ethnicity, political views, sexual orientation than they are. Children may try to prank someone or introduce themselves as another person in instant messaging. On the one hand, it can be useful for a teenager who is looking for an opportunity to learn more about himself or herself. On the other hand, however, virtual communication has created risks associated with new environment responses. Anonymity increases the likelihood of a teenager meeting on the Internet and possibly in the real world with someone who is also using a fictional identity and is not at all who they appear to be.
Communication
It is evident that individuals can successfully control their influence by simple steps such as restricting screen time or filtering the information their children consume. It is suggested that parents should limit the overall screen time, especially among girls (Koning et al. 624). All those communicative processes that take place in ordinary socio-physical space seem to be “duplicated,” sometimes intensifying, and sometimes compensating for virtual communication, but in any case, acquiring new features.
The most emotionally violent form of cyberbullying is flaming, which begins with insults and develops into quick, emotional exchanges, usually in public, less often in private correspondence. It occurs between two interlocutors with initially equal positions, however, sudden aggression introduces an imbalance, which increases due to the fact that the participant does not know whom the opponent can attract to one’s side in this “battle.” Forum visitors, witnesses, can join one of the parties and develop rough correspondence without fully understanding the initial meaning of the collision and often considering the situation as a game, in contrast to the initiators of an aggressive dialogue.
The Internet is presented as a negative environment for the immature psyche of adolescents. The need for parental monitoring of the activities of children in social networks was identified. It is important to highlight possible ways to solve this problem. The necessity of a joint solution to this situation by the parents and the teaching staff of the school has been substantiated. Cyberbullying continues to harass educators and school psychologists at the municipal, national, and international levels. As is widely known, bullying in the educational environment is as old as our civilization itself. It is a complex social phenomenon that affects both the victim and the bully. This is why research has been conducted to understand the effects of bullying on victims and how it affects the bullies. The problem of cyberbullying is compounded by the fact that there are no economic, social, or even racial absolutes – anyone can become a victim or abuser. One fact that has definitely been confirmed in cyberbullying research is that victims of bullying often experience long-term emotional fears as a result of their negative experiences (Suissa 30). Various psychological, as well as psychosomatic symptoms, are common, and some of them may persist for life. It is these long-term psychological impacts that are worrying about society in light of the increase in school deviance and delinquency over the past decades. Many of the deviant teens have been bullied or bullied themselves for years. Cyberbullying should no longer be seen as a childish problem that can be resolved online.
In the indirect process of bullying the victim, other people are usually involved, and it can take place with their realization. The persecutor can hack the victim’s account and, impersonating the owner, send messages from this account to the victim’s acquaintances, destroying the victim’s communication field and creating doubts about his or her moral qualities (“Parents Fear Social Media’s Effect On Children’s Character; Research Suggests Majority Consider Twitter, Facebook and Others Have Negative Influence” 1). One of the most threatening situations is when the stalker publishes information online that actually puts the victim in danger, for example, placing an advertisement on her behalf about the search for sexual partners. Like traditional bullying, cyberbullying involves a continuum of actions, at one pole of which are activities that are hard to recognize as bullying. At the other end is the violent behavior of the aggressor, which can even lead to the death of the victim.
Depression and Addiction
Adolescence and childhood are among the most significant risk factors for the formation of various addictions. The psychological consequences of bullying are serious mental health problems that parents and teachers need to be aware of in order to take better care of their students and children. As a result of cyber-bullying, teenagers may experience social problems. One of the most common reactions to bullying in young children is that they start to be active earlier than they should be, and not always, their actions will be directed towards creation. In an attempt to protect themselves, they will become even more attractive to adult bullies, who will treat them like children also if they are peers. The more a child turns to teachers and adults in hopes of getting protection, the more violent the bullying becomes. This is especially damaging during pre-puberty when children are trying to figure out how to develop personal relationships with peers. This can have negative consequences for a person’s ability to socialize or build relationships. The condition causes the emergence of socio-psychological maladjustment, anxiety-depressive disorders, which, in turn, are fertile ground for the development of suicidal behavior (Durbin et al. 20). It can be assumed that a modern man receives as much information in a week as a man of the Middle Ages in his entire life. The main types of cyber addiction are Internet addiction and addiction to computer games.
Nowadays, digital technologies offer endless opportunities such as unlimited communication on social networks, online shopping, completing school assignments, learning languages, graphic editors, and even distance learning in various specialties. At first glance, there can be no negative moments in this occurrence. However, the vast expanses of the World Wide Web are fraught with the danger of getting bogged down in the virtual world, while the surrounding begins to fade into the background. Obsessive web surfing is developing – endless scrolling of information and entertainment resources without any conscious reason. They lose interest in life if they don’t have an internet connection. Feelings of emptiness and irritability appear. Feelings of euphoria and pleasure they feel only when they open their favorite websites or launch games. As a result of this condition, there is socio-psychological maladjustment, anxiety-depressive disorders, which are the main indicators of children’s mental health (Mills 4). Depression, in turn, overt or masked, is a psychological factor in the origin of suicidal behavior. Manifestations of computer addiction can also be expressed in visual impairment, vitamin deficiency, malnutrition, low activity, which is a fertile ground for the development of somatic disorders.
Internet and computer addiction can be found in most children. All children with signs of cyber addiction can have high levels of anxiety depression. In turn, depressive disorders affect the quality of life, the development of psychosomatic diseases, and are also the basis for the development of aggressive and auto-aggressive behavior in children. The highest risk of developing cyber addiction and severe anxiety-depressive disorders is revealed in the pubertal period (Suissa 29). This is due to personal immaturity, as well as a lack of self-control over the length of time spent at the computer, significant involvement in gaming, and virtual reality. In the age range of 14-15 years, a high level of situational anxiety is revealed, which at this age is associated with the awakening of sexual consciousness, which introduces nervousness, anxiety, internal excitement (Suissa 31). Computer addiction can affect the level of stress only if it encourages various misconduct from an early age, lack of proper upbringing and parental control, and the presence of a mental disorder. At the age of 16 to 18, boys and girls are just entering the routine of their lives. The detection of severe anxiety-depressive diseases is not associated with computer addiction. However, this may be a consequence of the formation of personality, youthful maximalism, increased academic load, upcoming final exams, and a decision on further actions.
Effects of Cyber-addiction
Computer addicts are more likely to experience distress in at least one of five areas. The latter includes social, professional, academic, financial, or physical. Problems always arise as a consequence of dependence on a computer and neglect of various aspects of life in exchange for virtual reality. The development of computer addiction can be due to multiple factors, such as the typing process, the communication environment, lack of interpersonal communication, excessive interest in pornographic sites, social activity on the network. Internet addicts show latent forms of other addictions, where sexual addiction turns into porn addiction or addictions to gambling find a way out in the form of Internet gambling.
In connection with the increase in the availability of computers and the Internet, the emergence of various services, social networks, online stores, it is almost impossible to live in modern society without spending a lot of time in front of the monitor, respectively, the prevalence of computer addiction is constantly increasing. It should be noted that this type of addiction develops among specialists in computer technology more often than among people in the humanitarian professions or without higher education. The age factor also plays an important role, and in many forms of diseases, such as borderline states, a leading role in the pathogenesis of mental disorders in children and adolescents.
Puberty
It is important to note that particular attention is paid to the puberty period. In children and adolescents, syndromes prevail, which reflect not so much the nosological nature of the disease as the type of neuro-psychic response characteristic of a given age period. One of these is the syndrome of unidirectional overvalued interests and hobbies, which have an affectively charged and exceeded, unidirectional, often abstract nature and are associated with heightened attraction. An overvalued fascination with computers, as a rule, arises when an immature person gets acquainted with them. The maximum hobbies are in adolescence, during the period of high activity, and the formation of means of its support and implementation.
Addiction and Disorder
Among Internet addicts, there is a higher level of affective disorders with a predominance of depression and obsessive-compulsive disorders, as well as masked depression in the framework of low-grade schizophrenia. Children with Internet-addiction have more frequent depression with an increased risk of suicide. It is important to highlight the number of personality traits of Internet addicts such as depression and loneliness.
Benefit of Electronic Media
Undoubtedly, the Internet is a major achievement of humanity. With its help, children can watch educational materials, find new ways of socializing, communicate with relatives and friends who live far away. In addition, they can search for answers to questions of interest to them, solve complex and incomprehensible problems for them, find useful and interesting information, learn about various events and news. The Internet helps children to become developed and literate people (“Education Development Center Study Demonstrates Positive Effects of KIDS Digital Media on Young Children Science Learning” 1).
Education Accessibility
One of the main advantages of the Internet is the blurring of the boundaries of education accessibility. They can communicate with people who live on other continents and in other countries while making new friends. Some people, in order to become more educated, independently study disciplines of interest, watch various training, and online courses. The Internet itself is already considered a good source of income for children and young people, and today there are many professions associated with it. Often, someone who is sitting in their room but looking for knowledge via the Internet will be more focused on a topic or subject than students who are in university classes. In traditional classroom activities, students who are distracted may be asked to answer a question or give their views on a particular topic. Indeed, one can argue that for those who need additional motivation and control, traditional training is more suitable. On the other hand, someone who knows what they want to get out of learning and are familiar with self-discipline will benefit more from online education. Students can significantly improve their knowledge thanks to online education tools (Haugen and Musser 1). They work especially well for the natural sciences because complex formulas and calculations in mathematics, physics, and chemistry can turn into an exciting game. Interactive lessons, game form, prizes, and competitions involve students in the learning process. In addition, communication in online lessons is not formal, and the student feels more comfortable and experiences less stress, which is especially important during tests and exams.
Works Cited
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