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How technology influences children
How technology influences children
The relationship between social media and its effects on teens
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Social media has rapidly increased in the past few years, and has become one of the most significant parts of our daily lives. With websites such as Facebook and Twitter, we are now able to communicate with people half a world away. With just one click, you are able to keep in touch with relatives, gawk at the latest celebrity gossip, and even see what your friends had for breakfast. However, with access to unlimited sources of information, many of us have grown dependent on our phones and computers. Teens, in particular, are one of the most prominent age groups affected by this epidemic. In 2010, 93% of adolescents ages 12-17 were on the internet. With teens now spending copious amount of time on the internet, we are starting to see the negative health repercussions. This technology has led to social media addiction, cyber-bullying, and an increase in negative body images. As social media use continues to increase for teenagers and young adults, so do the concerns on the social development in adolescents due to the internet. Many teens are attracted to social media because it provides a place where they can be anonymous and make friends, when at school they may be too shy to do so. In fact, a survey shows that, “participants...said they were better able to express their true selves online than offline, and they tended to project ideal qualities onto their online partners” However, when you have been given the tools and technology to maintain your lives without even speaking a word to someone face-to-face, it is anything but social. As a teen, social development is critical. During these years, a child will learn how to maintain friendships, thrive in social situations, and other important skills. When you are spending your day h... ... middle of paper ... ...es that we see on social media, which destroy our self-confidence and fuel our desires to be skinny. 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.
Brent Staples article “What Adolescents Miss When We Let Them Grow Up in Cyberspace” published in the New York Times, highlights how technology plays a heavy role in adolescent social development. For example, children growing up in the 21st century are bombarded with vast technological media outlets. Also, Staples supports with factual research indicating communicating through technology hinders children social skills. Staples explains how social media and networking has become a virtual reality, encouraging children not to value real-world experiences. Staples argues that adolescents cannot transition into the harsh realities of adulthood because they prefer socializing through virtual realities. Although there are parents who monitor adolescents’
Texting, the internet, and social networking connect many people with those otherwise unavailable to them. However, the connection is less personal, and more tenuous than real social encounters. As technology advances greater numbers of teens expose themselves to risk of predation, stunted social skills, and a skewed view of the physical world. The speed of electronic communication and the abundance of readily available information are the internet’s greatest strengths and threats, many lack ability to distinguish between the fact and fiction that abounds in cyber-space. Allowing teens to find their unique identity is crucial but should not be done in a vacuum of parental supervision or genuine social interaction.
Some people worry about teens using social media in the wrong way or for bad causes. However, they are wrong because if a teen isn’t able to experience with social media at a young age, they will not know how to utilize it when they are older. An example of this is a CNN statistic showed that 53% of teens who were new to social media at an older age either used it in the wrong way, over used it, or they posted inappropriate items. This shows how all this chaos can be avoided if teens are taught how to use social media properly at a young
With all of the attention on social media, negative and positive, the media has caused several controversies throughout our nation. People ponder that social media is the reason why there’s bullying, incorrect grammar, and lack of social skills. Though social media can be beneficial, teens need to be extremely careful what they post online. Social Media was created for people to communicate, share information, ideas, and to be entertained. From old time buddies and gals catching up, to just now receiving a friend request from a stranger you don’t know, the media can be beneficial, but dangerous at times.
With the advancement in technology in a short matter of time it has impacted the world in many ways such as how the world communicates and our life styles. One of the many revolutionary inventions or evolutions is called social networking sites (SNS). Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and many more, are where people gather in the internet, create a personalized profile about themselves, and interact with people around the world. With the lack of parental supervision between the ages of fourteen to seventeen, which makes one of largest demographics using social networking sites, these teens could be subjected to mature elements. Young teens between the ages of fourteen to seventeen should not be allowed to have a profile on social networking sites because they do not have the capability to make proper logical decisions.
Social media can have detrimental effects on the formation of an adolescent’s identity such as social isolation meaning that the individual will spend excessive amounts of time attached to any electronics that will provide him with social media access. Social networking has been debated to have beneficial or detrimental effects, as overuse and abuse of the Internet can be harmful to someone, such as an adolescent. According to the National Crime Prevention Council, over one million teenage girls are victimized psychologically as well as physically, through social media.
Besides cyberbullying, there are many other negative outcomes for American youth in the use of social media websites like Facebook. For example, many teens are using shorthand and abbreviations when writing or communicating online. Additionally, teens lose themselves in social media, ignore their surroundings and even become addicted to social media. Consequences of this include a rise in obesity, devaluation in family, lack of exercise and decrease in focus on school and homework. Adolescents that use social media more often than others are more prone to “narcissistic tendencies,” “anxiety, depression, and other psychological disorders” (Protalinski, 2011). American youth that share more online also display manic, aggressive and antisocial behaviors.
There has been controversy as to whether parents should limit the use of social media by teenagers. Teenagers feel that there is no need to limit the use of their social media networking, but on the other hand, parents should feel the need to limit their use and also keep track of their teen’s social networking. Social media allows students to be connected with their peers, teens who post positive status are more likely to be involved in extracurricular activities, and for many teens putting up “selfies” is a self confidence boost; however, too much social media can affect students GPA in school, cyber bullying can affect social health. Social media networks can give out personal information. Social media sites such as Facebook are one of the most popular social media sites that has 700,000-750,000 members joining each day.
Most common among young adults and teens, social networking plays a significant role in the social lives of adolescents. The teenage years are “a time of identity formation and role development” (Pew Internet and American Life Project 11). Online identity among friends and peers has now become as significant as one’s own personal identity, in that online information can be seen by many and online interactions have become a primary source of communication. As a result, teens tend to concentrate greatly on social life and now a majority use social networking sites and other social media as an outlet for this personal growth.
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.
Social media has changed the way people communicate with each other and in turn, has affected our ability to empathize in both negative and positive ways. One of the most harmful consequences is the rise of cyber-bullying, which can be found from a hateful Facebook post by a classmate to anonymous trolling in the comments sections of websites. Some argue that social media is a breeding ground for this type of behavior while others say it would still take place even if you removed the medium.
Michael J. Fox once said, “One’s dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but it can never be taken away unless it is surrendered”(1). People will disrespect another person if he or she lets them tyrannize them. However, the bullied victim has the power to stop the harassment. The victim will have low self-esteem and would feel bad about themselves from the amount of harsh comments he or she receives online. When it comes to cyberbullying, the victim would get harassed online from a classmate at school or elsewhere on social media. For instance, a person can get bullied on Facebook by a user saying cruel and disrespectful comments on their posts. As a result, the person will become depressed and insecure. On social media, people bully others which could affect the victims emotionally and mentally because they believe the false statements.
Social media is quickly evolving in front of our eyes and it is almost impossible to reject and hide from this new form of media. Not only is it an important part of socialization within peer groups but now it is used to market and motivate people to become a part of a larger community. It is undeniably changing the way one communicates and how one finds and shares information. Most websites offer communication through the use of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and many various blog formats. With new apps on smartphones and photography and video made digital, media can be created, edited and shared quickly and once it is in this new digital cloud it is not yours anymore. Through these new advances in technology one can share things about themselves to the world to view, and prior to social media one would have to communicate and share physically. These social media site offer adolescence new ways to access communication and entertainment and the long-term effects are still unknown. For this reason, it is imperative for parents to be more aware of this new media and what it offers both good and bad for our children.
As in real life, teenagers are very shy of what is coming out of their mouth, but in social media, it’s the opposite, “Social media is preventing us from standing up for ourselves the way we should be” (Thaiatizickas). Facebook is a convenient way to contact a long distance relative or friends, but teenagers are depending on it too much that make them lacked face to face communication. Social media such as Facebook limits the face to face interaction between humankind. Technology has a huge impact on human life and some may take them as an advantage and disadvantage. Many believed that the digital world is their real life and they can meet and talk to whoever they want through messenger and video calls. Teenagers often say the things that they wanted to say through social media, “they are sending messages and content that they would never share at school, often using language that they would never say to someone’s face, a language that, if used with classmates at school, would lead to disciplinary action” (journal by Steiner-Adair). Compare to the previous generations, the younger generations have the effects on social networking that cause them to grow up differently. Social media are now destroying teenagers’ social skills as well as the future
Social skills are having the ability to interact effectively in social settings and to understand and productively harness one’s own and other’s personality structures. Social skills overlap with that of communication skills. Under social skills, there are three main components that are necessary. The first one is personal likability. The second element involves expressiveness. The final element is social perceptiveness. Good social skills enhance communication, increase effective team building, and reduce conflict while promoting unity (Sattler and Hoge, 396). Teenagers today lack social skills; they are glued to their phones. When teenagers are on their phone, they always seem to be on social media. Social media is everywhere now. From Facebook to Snap chat, the going thing is to communicate through social media. Social media really is affecting the social skills of teenagers? Social media affects teenager’s social development and relationships, it affects their academic development and it also can make them lazy and cause distractions.