Is Social Media Harmful For Children?
Nearly every child above the age of 8 is using social media. They get fascinated by it after watching their brothers or parents using it. About 10 years ago, there was a restriction on the minimum age to join social media. But now that has decreased to a very small age. Even my nephew who is 6 years old started to use Instagram. But is it beneficial to them in any way? Will it be doing more harm to them than good? Let’s find out
Since kids are still developing their Minds during the early stages, parents should make sure they understand what they are seeing online. Because that will affect how they learn about stuff. That is why there is Parental Control on most devices. But is that enough to stop them from seeing the bad on the internet?
What People Think About It
Many researchers and scientists have already said that social media is harmful to children in many ways. It can cause physical pain by catfishing or other means. It can also lead to mental stress from bullying and harassment. We as adults can cope with it a lot better than children. So most parents feel it’s better to stop children from accessing social media.
But nowadays it’s impossible for a kid to not have social media. This is because most of their friends at school and in their neighborhood already have them. And that is one of the ways how they communicate with each other. There is nothing wrong with messaging your friends on social media as kids. But what is harmful to them is what the parents don’t know. They might be an adult who is bullying your kid. But he is not able to tell that to you as he is afraid. These kinds of scenarios happen more often than you think.
Here are some of the negative effects of social media on children
Internet challenges
There have been when many weird challenges in the past on the internet. These include eating Tide pods or trying to strangle yourself. All of these are made by kids which make them very dangerous. Just for some likes and followers, they record themselves doing this and sharing it with the world. There have been many kids who died after doing this. This is only a small part of the bad side of social media.
Exploitation
When a kid joins social media, he might share some photos and videos with his friends. But there is a chance those photos fall into the hands of the wrong person. If that happens, there are a lot of bad things that they can do with it. With AI Technology, they can create a video from a single photo of you. So they should be careful to make sure what they share online. Because it is hard to delete something that has been shared once on the internet.
Addiction
Kids love to watch TikTok videos and Instagram reels every day. But in doing so, they might start avoiding their studies and other activities and only focus on this. They might go to a stage where if the the parents take away the phone, they get very angry and cause trouble. This is because of addiction from watching it for a long time. That’s why kids should be kept on a time limit on how many hours they can use social media each day.
Online content
There is an enormous amount of information available on the internet. That includes good information that helps you learn and become better. And also the bad part, where you see the worst part in people. Kids can be easily influenced by what they are watching. If they are watching a lot of violent content. There is a higher chance of them being violent in the future. So parents need to monitor what their kids are watching online. Even if it’s YouTube or social media.
Cyberbullying
There have been many cases of suicide which happened due to cyberbullying. This is a major issue among kids using the internet. There might be a random person on social media who keeps on harassing a kid. Most times, the kids are afraid to tell their parents about it. So they keep the embarrassment and pain to themselves. This keeps on building up to the point where they can’t handle it anymore. That’s why cyberbullying is a very dangerous crime. And if they are caught, they will have a very long jail time.
Behavior changes
You might see changes in your kid after they keep on watching social media for a few days. They might get angry a lot more easily. Or they might try to act like one of the influencers they see online. If he is a good role model, there is no issue. But if it’s not, then the kid will start acting badly towards parents and friends. This is all because they are influenced by what they see on social media.
I am not saying that there are no positive outcomes for social media. There have been many students who used social media to bring awareness and learn a lot more. There is no exact age at which you should join social media. But for small kids, it’s better to avoid it for a while.
Body shaming is also an issue that happens a lot on social media. The kids try to look for approval online in the form of likes and followers. If a friend comments on their photo, they feel a kind of happiness. But there will also be random people on the internet who put hurtfull comments on them. By getting body shamed, the kids start changing the way they eat and behave. Leave social media for a while if that happens.
What we need to do
We as parents have only one thing to do, take care of our kids. Online and offline as well. There is no harm in learning what kids are doing and who they are meeting up with. Because parents are better than anyone else. If a kid is depressed from online bullying, the parents should be the first ones to know. The kids should have a lot more outdoor activities rather than scrolling on social media all day. They should interact with friends and family which would give them a better life. They will be able to understand that social media is not everything. There is a lot more to life than that.
So what I feel is, for young kids social media might be harmful than what the good it may do. It’s better to keep them away from it until they grow wiser.