SOCIAL MEDIA & CHILDREN
Social Media's PROS & CONS On Children
What can you do with Social Media? You can connect with people all over the world! You can see what your friends are up to, post pictures, send messages, and post your thoughts on everything and anything. Social Media makes all these plus more possible and accessible which can be either a pro or a con.
CONNECTIONS
PRO:
“FACEBOOK, TWITTER, AND YouTube brings benefits to children and teenagers, including enhancing communication, broadening social connections” (McBride, 2011), and so forth. Social Media makes it possible for family and friends to connect. Children as well as adults can share and post pictures and comments.
CON:
When children connect with online friends or family, they are also indirectly connecting with others such as their friends, friends. Social media allows a multitude of other strangers to connect. Children may even find posts from other people that they do not know who share different morals or values. These strangers may post things that children know are wrong.
Another con to social media is that some people hide their identity and may seem “friendly” but can be dangerous. When it comes to social media and making friends, children need to be taught that the safest friends are the ones they know offline.
SELF-ESTEEM
PRO:
Social Media can inspire youths to strive to become their better selves. However, unfortunately, there are too many risks in social media that far outweigh the benefits when it comes to the self-esteem of children.
CON:
Schryver (2014) notes “teens are on the lookout for “Likes.” They consistently check their social media to specially look at how many people liked their picture or commented on their posts, since this fills youths with gratification. They “measure the "success" of their photos -- even their self-worth -- by the number of likes or comments they receive. (Schryver, 2014). Schryver (2014) mentions how this can be “problematic if teens post it to validate their popularity.” McBride (2011) adds, “that the popularity of social networking sites has led researchers to identify a new phenomenon known as Facebook depression.” Children’s dependence on social media and the number of peer likes they receive fuel the “desire for acceptance” (McBride, 2011).
Another factor that contributes to low self-esteem in children is the explosion of media images. Girls and boys have taken the hit when it comes to body image. Knorr (2014) states, “thanks to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other always-on social media, kids are exposed to a constant drumbeat of bikini bodies, six-pack abs, and just-right hair 24/7.” Images used are often seamlessly manipulated and so striving for “perfection” becomes unattainable which only increases anxiety, depression, and even eating disorders among children (Knorr, 2014). Social media is a quick tool which can be used to justify a person’s worth through the “[judgments] and [criticisms]” of friends and strangers.
ACESS TO INFORMATION
PRO:
Of course not all of social media is bad. Social media can be used to spread a good cause or information that people need to aware of.
For example, in Quebec in 2014, a newborn was abducted from the Sainte-Marie Hospital. Social media was utilized to send out “Amber Alerts for the missing baby.” A group of teens decided to investigate themselves and see whether they could track down the “fire-engine red car described in police alerts.” With the flooding of information social media produces, updated information concerning the abductor was posted. This then caught the attention of one of the teens that “recognized the woman.” The teens were able to contact the cops and within a “total of three hours” the baby was rescued. (Hopper, 2014)
Social sites such as Facebook can be utilized to; send out messages concerning missing persons (such as the above), track criminals and illegal acts, retrieve old messages, and even help spread awareness. Because of the quick access to information, social media can be a valuable instrument.
CON:
Although social media can be informative, checking our latest’s posts can be addictive and time consuming. The American Academy of Pediatrics (2013), suggest that “the average 8- to 10-year-old spends nearly 8 hours a day with a variety of different media, and older children and teenagers spend >11 hours per day.” There needs to be a time limit so that our online life does not intrude with our real life.
In addition, not all information online is beneficial or lifesaving such as the story above. Social media is full of information; relevant and irrelevant, false and true. Children need to be taught how to decipher the correct information so that they do not become susceptible to misleading contents.
CYBERBULLYING
CON:
Cyberbullying is a different form of bully caused online. According to Heiman and Olenik-Shemesh (2015), it “refers to a negative activity aimed at deliberate and repeated harm through the use of a variety of electronic media, such as social networks, chat rooms, email, and cell phones, through which threatening and offensive messages are sent and received.” Cyberbullying is usually done anonymously which empowers the bully to say or do what he or she wishes online, while the victim is unaware of whom the bully is personally (Heiman and Olenik-Shemesh 2015). This can be place the victim in a vulnerable position for he or she can have a close relationship with the bully, but be oblivious to it.
Social media has become a social space for youths. Thus, it can become a dangerous tool used to harm. Heiman and Olenik-Shemesh (2015) indicate, “cyberbullying has become a worldwide phenomenom” which children often partake in. Although cyberbullying “occurs mostly during early adolescence and adolescence”, it can start as early as “elementary school and can continue to college” (Heiman and Olenik-Shemesh, 2015).
Since social media is used mostly by youths all over the world, youths everywhere are highly vulnerable to being bullied on the Internet. Persons who are bullied can experience “anxiety, depression, and suicide” (McBride, 2011). Although it may seem that cyberbullying only affects the victim, it too affects the bully. Cyberbullying over social media has emotional impacts on both parties involved. Therefore, it is important to educate and talk to children about the usage of social media.
CREATIVITY
PRO:
Social media encourages children to look for new ways to be creative. Some social media apps (such as Instagram), “lets you apply fun filters and effects to your photos, making them look high-quality and artistic” (Schryver, 2014), which can be posted by youths to show their friends. Having an audience to show off to and receive “likes” from can make youths feel accomplished and may encourage further exploration in creativity.
CON:
Due to the copious amount of information, it can be hard to find originality. Social media makes it easy for children to copy ideas or refuse to come up with their own ideas because social media is so accessible. It does not require much thinking. All it takes is typing in a few words and the click of a button to find ideas made by other persons. Social media can stunt further growth of creativity.
PRIVACY
CON:
Most children like to share their experiences and opinions online, which of course is not entirely wrong. Nevertheless, children need to be aware that what they post may have consequences and that everyone is capable of viewing their posts.
Schryver (2014) writes, "Public tweets are the norm for teens. Through [youths] can choose to "remove tweets [on Twitter], [their] followers can still read what [they] wrote until it's gone." Thus, even if children regret what they had posted and decide to delete it, it does not premanently get erased form the Internet