Introduction
Social media has a significant impact on the lives of all those who use it, but children and teenagers seem to be the most impacted by the medium. As a consequence of their social media usage, many youngsters begin to encounter difficulties in their social development. According to a number of studies, bullying and other teen-related issues are increasing because of the widespread use of social media. It is high time parents and other relevant authorities regulate how teens and children can use social media.
Main body
According to McBride (2011), the influence of social media on teenagers is quite alarming. Because of the opportunity to hide behind a screen, social media is stifling good peer interactions. Adolescents embrace technology to contact other pupils and form relationships instead of chatting and conversing face to face. Adolescents’ contacts are not as prevalent as social networks at this moment. As social media gets more prevalent, peer engagement through technology becomes increasingly common (Best, Manktelow, & Taylor, 2014). The use of social media may have negative consequences, including increased risk of injury, loneliness, depression, and cyberbullying.
In addition to being exposed to injury and despair, social media users are experiencing a wide range of additional problems due to their usage of the platform. One research found that adolescents who were emotionally committed to social media had worse sleep, as well as elevated anxiety, despair, and low self-esteem than those who were not (Woods & Scott, 2016). Adolescents’ use of social media does provide an opportunity to learn about the mental aspect of growth, though (Bagot et al., 2018). Research into the consequences of the setting, social connections, the surroundings, and drug use on children’s health and development can now be conducted in an interdisciplinary fashion, thanks to improvements in portable and wearable technology and new methods for analyzing geospatial, ecological, social platform, and behavioral information (Herring & Kapidzic, 2015). Scientists can learn more about teenage psychology by studying their online interactions on social media.
People can better understand teenagers thanks to the various advantages of social media, such as a sense of support from friends and family, enhanced social capital, safe identity exploration, and the possibility to reveal oneself. There may be problems with poor self-esteem and support for those who rely on social media for their information if specific social rankings are ever questioned outside of the technology realm (Best, Manktelow, & Taylor, 2014). Social media usage intensity was associated with more excellent social comparison and envy among teens in recent research (Morris & Messenger, 2018). Having a place where one’s individuality is accepted is a good thing. The teenager will have to face the danger that the acceptance might become unhealthy if they engage in these activities. As a result of social media’s negative consequences, some individuals may not express themselves in a way that is consistent with what others think of them (Siddiqui & Singh, 2016). As a result, they have a misleading impression of what it is like to be accepted by others in real-life encounters. Cyberbullying, also known as online bullying, is a typical result of these kinds of events.
Internet bullying is becoming increasingly widespread because of the surge in the utilization of social media. In many cases, bullies perceive technology as a way to get away with their crimes since they will not have to meet the victim in person, allowing them to feel more confident in their conduct. Bullies are more inclined to continue bullying since the punishment for internet bullying is improbable. A bully’s chances of being bullied increase if they believe that they may bully someone else without repercussions since they were harassed in the past (Anderson & Jiang, 2018). According to arguments, moral disengagement is needed for cyberbullying because of internet anonymity and social networking sites. However, the more often cyberbullying occurs, the more likely the perpetrator participates in such behavior (Hood & Duffy, 2018). In other words, bullies may remain anonymous while still committing acts of bullying without fear of repercussion. Some children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable in the digital age since their personal information is constantly being shared through new technology (Morris & Davies, 2018). Bullying that occurs via the internet often leads to severe outcomes, the worst of which is suicide. A growing number of parents are suing schools after their children commit suicide due to cyberbullying on social media. Activist organizations are working to strengthen existing legislation to combat cyberbullying.
Conclusion
Adolescents’ development is influenced by a wide range of factors, including technology. Adolescents require their parents and guardians to understand the importance of face-to-face social connections and keep tabs on their use of social media. Parents must keep tabs on their children’s social media usage and prevent proper social growth. Adolescent cyberbullying has been proven to be reduced when parents keep an eye on their children’s social media accounts. When monitoring starts, parents need to be aware that they will be invading their children’s privacy, but it might prevent bullying. With close supervision of social media sites by parents and guardians, it seems that children’s privacy may be safeguarded. Because of advances in technology, we can now better understand how adolescents grow and develop.
References
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