The Effect of Social Media on Children and Adolescents In today’s society, much advancement has been made throughout the universe. However, one that seems to stand out in particular is the use of social media. Social media has both positive and negative effects on society. This advancement has led to a difference in communication to everyone by reconnecting with others, or even informing the public nationwide through televisions such as the news or talk shows. However, is social media safe to use? Social media has a great impact on everyone in society. While allowing your children or teenagers to engage in social media a few things to consider are the risks of youth using social media, what age is too young, and also how social media is useful in some cases. Children participate in cyber bullying now and even find themselves involved in bad habits, such as sexting (Schurgin O’Keefe). According to a recent poll conducted, over 22 percent of teenagers log onto their social media site more than ten times a day (Schurgin O’Keefe). Not everything is negative towards social media, but there are precautions that need to be taken when there is the youth involved. The cons of social media can be very risky, especially when the youth of this society is partaking in it. Children and adolescents are now known for inappropriate content on social media sites or just simply not understanding the concepts of privacy. A nationwide issue that has been addressed is the action of cyberbullying. This action often leads to harmful circumstances such as suicide attempts, with some being successful. In just one state in the U.S., 1,491 high school students that were the “cyber bullies” were related to suicide attempts and about 4,693 students were rel... ... middle of paper ... ...r. (2013). The Brief History of Social Media. Retrieved from http://www.uncp.edu/home/acurtis/NewMedia/SocialMedia/SocialMediaHistory.html Hrastinksi, S., & Aghaee, N. M. (2012). How are campus students using social media to support their studies? an explorative interview study. Education and Information Technologies, 17(4), 451-464. doi: 10.1007/s10639-011-9169-5 Katzman, D. (2010). Sexting: Keeping teens safe and responsible in a technologically savvy world. Pediatrics and Child Health, 15(1), 41-42. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2827324/ Schurgin O'Keefe, MD, G., & Clarke-Pearson, MD, K. (2011). The impact of social media on children, adolescents, and families. (4 ed., Vol. 127, pp. 800-804). Elk Grove Village, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics. Retrieved from http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/800.full
The article “Girl’s Suicide Points to Rise in Apps Used by Cyber Bullies,” by Lizette Alvarez discusses the seriousness of cyber bulling and its effects on teenagers, specifically Rebecca Ann Sedwick. For starters, people are trying to raise awareness about teenagers driven to suicide since a 12 year old girl, Rebecca Ann Sedwick, committed suicide because she was terrorized on social media. As many people knew, Rebecca was brutally bullied online to the point where she had to leave school and go get help, but sadly the bulling started again once she returned, and this time she put on a “brave face” and didn’t tell anyone; untimely, she should have gotten adults to help her because she couldn’t handle the bulling on her own. In addition, social
Cyberbullying has a big challenge when compared to traditional bullying. Because cyberbullying is an indirect none verbal form of bullying, adolescent are more exposed to repeated harassment through hate messages and much more. For so, they increase the rate of suicide by adding feelings of isolations, hopelessness… Social media also contains websites in which those victims rely on, which take advantage of the victim’s vulnerability to provide detailed information on how to commit suicide in order to kill off their
As the world becomes more and more technologically advanced, cyberbullying has become a growing issue. It is an issue not just for teens and kids but even adults. Most cyberbullying occurs through social media, which in this world of technological communication, is a must for the youth to “be cool.” Although social media and others sources may be used beneficially (business-wise) it may also be used abusively, which is where cyberbullying plays in.
As social techonoogy advances, it is up to us as as ociety to safegaurd our youth through education on the subject of safe, healthy usage. While a total elimination of the technology is more damaging than helpful, it is wholly more productive simply to guide our children in the correct way, and impart on them a healthy perspective on social mass media. With that, we would be able to enjoy the full benefits of social media, and corresponding platforms as a medium of inter connectivity, information exchange and discovery.
Social media can greatly affect anyone, no matter the age. With the research provided there is an accurate assumption that social media can have a negative and positive effect on the youthful. Schools have allowed kids to do homework with electronic devices even though some teachers agree that social media has a heavy impact on students. Social media can be a positive outlet for those who practice it correctly and can increase many skills. There are many positives and negatives when using technology that parental guidance is required. Even though, social media is supposed to be primarily the instrument for a connection and communication with others, p...
...besity: The Role of Social Networks and the Use of Social Media and Related Electronic Technologies A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association." Circulation 127(2): 260-267.
This sort of phenomenon makes major headlines regularly in recent times and effects a clear majority of today’s youth. State and local lawmakers have taken steps to prevent this type of bullying by making illegal under several criminal law codes. Michele Hamm, a researcher in pediatrics explained, “There were consistent associations between exposure to cyberbullying and increased likelihood of depression.” Cyberbullying became widespread among students with the rapid growth in use of cellular devices and the Internet. With this kind of technology bullies have the ability to send harmful messages to their recipients at any given time. This type of bullying is the hardest to control because it involves students but often happens off school grounds. However, because the evidence is material, students and parents could bring this evidence to the school and local police departments if a situation were to happen. Parents should be mindful of their child’s use of the internet and electronic messaging, cyberbullying usually takes place in a medium in which adults are seldom present (Mason, 2008). Also, instead of sending direct messages to other students, bullies use platforms such as social media and anonymous blogs to post harmful things for others to see. Educators must understand the significance of social media use to their students, especially
Cyberbullying has risen since the inception of social media sites and the rise of the internet. While the statistics regarding cyberbullying vary widely, anywhere from ten to forty percent or more of adolescents have reportedly been bullied online. The percentage of those on social media, like Facebook, has an even gre...
I believe that the key to safe and secure social media begins with proper use. Illegal and highly discouraged activities should not be tolerated and consequences should be mandatory. In terms of social media use in teens and young adults, it is important for parents to teach their children what acceptable use of computers and social media is so that they can understand the potential danger and all minors should be monitored while using the Internet to ensure safe usage is being followed. Regardless of age, all users of social media should think twice before clicking the post button about what unintended consequences that post could have.
The correlation between the development of youth and social media has become blatant. Although few of the consequences are favorable, the majority have displayed a negative impact. The drive social media can implement on youth is exceptional. The pressure and strain social media can place on our youth is an enduring force which leads individuals to question themselves as a person and feel inclined to fit a norm expressed in media and social media of our society. The underlying force social media can play in the lives of the youth is astonishing and is a force that must be dealt with and controlled, for it not only holds the power to give an individual strength, but also to break them down.
Before students only had to worry about being bullied at school, but due to technology advances and the use of social media, teenagers can be bullied twenty four- seven. Cyberbullying causes a huge impact on students and when they are too busy with the anxiety of being bullied their grades can suffer or they can even drop out. According to HealthDay News, 9,590 students were surveyed from 580 U.S. schools. Compared to kids who were not bullied, students that were cyberbullied experienced a 0.049 drop in their GPA between grades 9 and 12. This number is too big when you think about the potential students have but the constant bullying by their peers on social media effects that. For some, dropping out or taking the bad grades feels like their only option. Some teenagers that get cyberbullied on social media can’t take the constant criticism, which can lead to suicide. An example is Hannah Smith, a 14-year old student from England. Smith had been on ask.fm, a social networking site that allows people to ask questions anonymously. Cyberbullies urged her to drink bleach and cut herself. Eventually she couldn’t take the bullying any longer and committed suicide. Social media has a huge impact on these suicides because it’s through these websites that these teens are being bullied by other students. If teens don’t stop soon the side effects of cyberbullying
“Cyberbullying is a unique form of digital abuse that involves a range of tormenting, humiliating, threatening, embarrassing and harassing behaviors and has gained a lot of attention in recent years” (Cyberbullying). Websites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram were created to help people communicate with friends and families that may live all the way across the world, but instead they are being used to hurt other people. The misuse of social media websites such as those, more specifically cyberbullying, is a prevalent issue in this generation with teens in middle and high school. Cyberbullying, for example, is an issue that the online community is currently dealing with. Teenagers, for the most part, use the internet to torment and make
The social network on college students has become a basic need for students. It is a daily routine for students to access sites such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Myspace, and Academia among other sites as they search for information, have fun and connect with other students. The sites have made the world a global village with the availability of the internet everywhere. However, despite the outburst and large numbers of students using social networking, they have positive and negative effects. This paper tries to analyze the argument that social networking has impacted more positively than negatively on students.
Social media has only been easily accessible on our decade, but has boomed in popularity and user use. It has taken over our society and culture providing a new channel to connect with the world in real-time. While, social media has many advantages -- especially in providing resources and knowledge to the public, it has many downsides as well, including not providing enough protection for our youths. As such, we see the rise of addiction to social media, cyberbullying, and negative body images. We need to push our government, schools, and families to educate our youth on internet usage. With technology’s increasing growth rate and that fact that technology will be our future, it is pertinent to teach our children how to use social media in a responsible manner.
Nowadays, children and adolescents spent a considerable part of their time on the internet. Media has turned out to be a very useful tool in many fields such as education, arts, science, sports, and culture. Over the recent decades, there has been a surge in the use of media by the younger generations and concern has been raised about the effect of media on children because of research reports of long term negative effects. Media use is a double edged weapon with both advantages and disadvantages. Since Internet is the easiest way now for children to use so as to watch and observe anything they want such as movies, games, news and pictures, also this useful tool is used by children for harming themselves