Introduction
The world is constantly changing, and new innovative technologies are entering life, the use of which is expanding every day. This has a great impact on every person, but especially on the mobile psyche of children and adolescents. This has a number of consequences and causes depression and anxiety. One of the main problems is occurrence of mental health problems, which affects a large number of schoolchildren. Thus, a system should be created in educational institutions that will allow children to feel protected from possible depression and other types of health behaviors through social networks.
Discussion
Social networks provoke depression and anxiety in children and adolescents by exacerbating self-doubt. They tend to look for idols and ideals in the online space and strive to emulate them (Baldry et al., 2018). However, few of them understand that bloggers and other persons expose only the picture of life that brings them benefits. Moreover, often these things are not real and are made with the help of selecting a certain angle. Children despair when in real life they fail to repeat what they have learned on the Internet and lose interest in real life.
Additionally, teenagers are constantly exposed to cyberbullying, which is a type of oppression in social media. Peers try to insult or disgrace the victim, morally destroying the person (Anna, 2019). Children continue to bully each other because of physical features, school failures, differences in hobbies, family problems. In modern society it happens both in real life and online, where the victim is constantly in full view. This demoralizes the child, makes them feel worthless and unnecessary. As a result, anxiety, depression, and feelings of inferiority increase.
Moreover, the constant connection with the Internet and social networks leads children to physical health problems. They are sitting at their gadgets, chatting, watching movies, browsing social networks, or playing games. This leads to a lack of physical activity necessary for the development of the younger generation. Children lie or sit and forget about sports hobbies or group activities. All this leads to one of the main problems – childhood obesity. Additionally, teenagers suffer from eye strain, poor posture, and headaches. Thus, in order to avoid physical and moral abuse and deterioration in health, it is necessary to develop a plan to combat these factors.
Plan
The moral health project is a priority for educational institutions and should be aimed at helping children and adolescents. First of all, it is important to have conversations with children and tell them about the horrors and consequences of cyberbullying. This will reinforce in their minds the model that it only brings misfortune and suffering to both the victim and their tormentors (Wiretna et al., 2020). Intermittent discussion once or twice a week will help build relationships between students.
Moreover, diagnostic materials should be provided to children and adolescents once a month. This helps to discover if the classroom environment has changed for better or worse. One of the surveys can be conditionally designated as a person in social networks. Questions will indicate what the student experiences when using the Internet and whether they consider themselves addicted (Anna, 2019). Thus, it is possible to identify the potential danger in the deterioration of the psychological and moral state among children.
If a child experiences problems, in an educational institution, they can turn to a social teacher or a psychologist. They will help to understand the problem, appoint the necessary consultations and, in case of harassment, initiate an investigation against the perpetrators (Anna, 2019). However, children are not always familiar with the school psychologist and therefore do not have a trusting relationship with them. Therefore, students should always be taught that if they feel depressed, anxious, or have been bullied, they can contact any schoolteacher or employee. They will listen and understand the underlying problem the child is facing. Next, they will hand it over to a competent person who will have the necessary conversation with the child.
At the same time, resources for conducting comprehensive consultations with the child are locally available. Moreover, the intra-school system allows assessing the state of bullying or cyberbullying through surveys and conversations with students. Another local resource is the introduction of a ban on the use of phones or other gadgets within the walls of the educational institution for the entire day of being at school (Peled et al., 2019). In this way, the problem of prolonged bullying at school can be solved and children can be encouraged to communicate more often in real life (Peled et al., 2019). In addition, in the case of depression and anxiety in a child, it is important to consider the policy of the districts. The policy identifies that in case of any depression or bullying, the school must report information to police agencies. This helps to solve the problem from the very beginning and prevent disastrous consequences, up to suicide.
Conclusion
Moreover, the issue of depression, anxiety, and bullying should be referred to the staff and parents of the child. This problem should be brought to parents with extreme caution, as adults tend to worry about the child. It is important to invite the school psychologist and parents to the office and, under the guidance of a professional, explain the situation. At the same time, the issue should be brought to the staff immediately as soon as someone learns about depression or other problems in the child. Management undertakes to convene a council and identify ways to solve problems. Additionally, constantly talking to children about how anyone can have depression will help reduce stigma. Schoolchildren will understand that this is a common issue and in any case, they will be able to ask for help.
References
Anna, W. (2019). Cyberbullying in the light of challenges of school-based prevention. International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education, 7(3), 13-26.
Baldry, A., Blaya, C., & Farrington, D. (2018). International perspectives on cyberbullying. Palgrave studies in cybercrime and cybersecurity. London: Palgrave MacMillan.
Peled, Y., Medvin, M. B., Pieterse, E., & Domanski, L. (2019). Normative beliefs about cyberbullying: comparisons of Israeli and US youth. Heliyon, 5(12), 11-17. Web.
Wiretna, C. D., Saputra, W. N. E., Muarifah, A., & Barida, M. (2020). Effectiveness of solution-focused brief counseling to reduce online aggression of student. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 8(3), 1092-1099.