Social Media and Kids: 20 Good Bad Things

Social media and kids are not new, but it is becoming a growing concern. There are good but undoubtedly bad things about social media and kids that parents, educators, family, and friends need to know. When protecting our kids, a good offense is the best defense.

An advisory from the United States Surgeon General Vivek Murphy warns that social media presents a “profound risk” to our adolescents’ and teens’ mental health.

Several recent studies point out the ubiquitous nature of online activities by kids, the amount of time spent online, and the negative consequences of their near obsession with social media.

According to statistics from the Pew Research Center, social media use by individuals under 30 highlights three sites: Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok. Some 95 percent of those aged 18 to 29 use YouTube, while 76 percent of those ages 18 to 24 use Instagram, 75 percent use Snapchat, and 55 percent use TikTok.

Yet among teens ages 13 to 17, 95 percent use YouTube, 67 percent use TikTok, and use of Instagram and Snapchat is about 60 percent each. Almost half of the teens in the U.S. say they are online “almost constantly.” A story in the New York Times reported that children as young as 8 increasingly use social media.

Social Media and Kids: 10 Good Things About It

There is no question that social media has many benefits for kids as it does for adults. Young people, especially, are always searching for answers, to find a community, and connection, to express themselves, and to pass the time in an enjoyable pursuit. Social media offers this and much more.

1.????Social Media Is Always Available

There’s never any downtime with social media. It is always on. Despite time zone or geographic locations, kids can constantly interact with others or find entertainment, information, directions, help, or whatever they’re searching for using social media.

2.????Instant Connection

From the ability to chat in real-time to the back and forth of online messaging, social media offers instant connection to others. Adolescents and teens crave instant connection. They’ve been brought up with it since the Internet and social media are what they’ve always known. Connecting in real-time has enormous appeal and is a crucial benefit of social media to kids.

3.????Ability to Connect with Like Groups and Communities

Teen groups with similar interests are readily accessible through social media. This is one of the primary attractions of the medium that draws kids to it like a magnet. You might be the only one in your grade interested in astronomy, gourmet cooking, a particular hobby, a musical group, or recreational activity. Still, you can easily find groups devoted to your interests through social media.

4.????Extraordinary Unlimited Access to Information

Gone are the days when kids needed a ride to the public library to pore through books looking for information for a book report, essay, help on a project, or a paper for extra credit. Today the information is at their fingertips through the Internet and social media.

5.????Opportunities to Enhance Creativity

Youth is a time of exploration, pursuing creative interests, and expressing talents and abilities through music, art, ideas, blogging, and videos. There’s never been a better medium to do this than social media. Kids can record a video on their smartphones and upload it to social media in minutes. They can follow and like other uploaded content and find a community that way.

6.????Get Help If They’re Anxious or Sad

The adolescent and teenage years are an emotional rollercoaster ride. Fluctuating hormones and the difficulties of growing up can be scary to young people. They may hesitate to talk about it when they feel sad or anxious. Using social media, they can get the support they need by contacting a school counselor, mental health hotline, or other trusted mental health outlet.

7.????Find Out About Current Events

Kids want to know what’s going on, especially if the weekend is approaching and they want to do something other than sit in the house. Social media lets them discover events and activities in the neighborhood and around town. From their favorite musical group to a sporting event to hanging out with friends at the beach or hiking a mountain trail, it’s easy for kids to find current activities using social media.

8.????Interact with Other Students and Teachers

With the Internet and social media, there is no geographic or time barrier to interacting with other students about homework, upcoming tests, school sports, or extracurricular activities. Studying for tests, planning for meetups, and arranging transportation to events are instantly possible with social media.

9.????Opportunities to Interact with Diverse Groups of Young People

Same neighborhood, same set of friends, same people who look like you do. Kids want to explore and learn about the world and meet different people with the same or other interests. Social media offers endless opportunities to interact with diverse groups of young people.

10.?Obtain Health Information

Adolescents and teens often wonder if something they notice about their bodies means they have a medical condition. Or they may be frightened about some feelings they’ve been having. Access to social media provides an avenue for them to obtain health information to help calm their fears. They may be reluctant to ask family, friends, or teachers, so being able to investigate independently is an empowering feature of social media that can benefit kids.

Social Media and Kids: 10 Bad Things About It

Just as social media has many benefits for kids, the medium also has a dark side. Here is a look at some bad things about social media and kids.

1.????Exposure to Harmful Content

Adolescents and teens online have unprecedented access to diverse content. This includes the possibility of seeing inappropriate ads or ranges for their age. The most apparent risk is when kids distort the truth and lie about their age to gain access to particular social media platforms.

This can expose them to content that is risky or even dangerous. Such content or ads can include self-harm, eating disorders, violence, and discrimination. Kids aren’t always able to determine what is accurate, and misinformation, inaccurate, and false information online can not only mislead them but may also have potentially adverse consequences.

2.????Surging Depression Rates and Behavior Changes

The Cleveland Clinic warns that kids constantly using social media may begin to exhibit changes in their daily behaviors, particularly at home. Besides an increase in rates of childhood depression, there may be increased anxiety, irritability, stress, and lack of self-esteem.

Teens constantly using social media may be more prone to depression and anxiety.

3.????Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is horrifying and intensely damaging to kids harassed and teased online. According to mental health experts, cyberbullying is on the rise and is the most common risk for teens online. Cyberbullying is linked to loneliness, depression, and suicide – not only for the victims of cyberbullying but also for the bullies.

4.????Less Family Bonding with Parents

The image of the family at the dinner table with everyone on their smartphones isn’t a joke. It’s a common occurrence across America. This is a prime example of less time for kids to bond with their parents – and vice versa. Similarly, when kids are engrossed in social media on their smart devices, this is less time spent on family activities.

5.????Decreased Face-to-Face In-Person Contact

Young people are so used to texting with shorthand codes for phrases, sending emojis, photos, and sharing videos that they’ve suffered from face-to-face and in-person contact. What’s even more distressing is seeing kids in the same room communicating by text or social media messages. What’s at risk here is losing the ability to communicate in real-time face-to-face.

6.????Addiction to Social Media Platforms

Social media addiction among adolescents and young people is on the rise. A 2019 survey reported that 40 percent of U.S. online users aged 18 to 22 felt addicted to social media. The symptoms of social media addiction include:

·???????An extreme compulsion to use it.

·???????Overwhelming concern with social media.

·???????Devoting substantial amounts of time to social media.

·???????Becoming dependent on social media. To the detriment of relationships and daily living.

·???????Behavioral and mood changes, mainly when not engaged in social media pursuits.

·???????Withdrawal from family, friends, and activities once enjoyed.

·???????Increased conflict due to constant social media use.

7.????Increase in Teen Suicide

A 10-year study by Brigham Young University found that excess social media use by young teen girls resulted in elevated suicide risk. Researchers noted that suicide is now the second leading cause of death in individuals aged 10 to 34. Of note, the effect on boys’ risk of suicidality from social media use was minor. The story for girls was that using social media 2-3 hours each day from the age of 13 and increasing social media use over time put them at a higher clinical suicide risk as young adults.

8.????Dramatic Changes in Teen’s Developing Brains

A 2023 study published in JAMA Pediatrics found that habitual social media checking during adolescence may be longitudinally linked with brain changes during critical brain development. Researchers said the changes include those in neural sensitivity, anticipating social rewards-punishments. This could have long-term psychological adjustment implications.

9.????Body Dysmorphia and Comparisons

Research has shown that platforms based on images, like Instagram, whose parent is Facebook, adversely affect teens’ mental health. This is especially true for teens struggling with eating disorders, body image issues, depression, and anxiety.

As Professor Bryn Austin, an eating disorders expert at Harvard’s Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, notes, the algorithmically driven feeds on Instagram “can draw vulnerable teens into a dangerous spiral of negative social comparison and hook them onto unrealistic ideals of appearance and body size and shape.”

10.?Hate Content

Hateful comments on social media can wreak emotional distress on adolescents and teens. Whenever anyone comes across hate content online, it should be reported to the appropriate entity. This should be someone the child trusts, like a parent, teacher, or another adult friend of the family.

Social Media and Kids: What You Can Do to Combat the Risks

While work on congressional oversight and social media platforms’ efforts to reign in the risks to kids using the platforms continues, there’s no timetable for completion. There’s also no guarantee of success. Still, parents, family and friends, educators, and concerned others can take steps to safeguard adolescents and teens from social media risks.

·???????Parents can set limits for their children’s social media use. Examples include no phones at mealtime and phones off at bedtime.

·???????Parents can also block harmful content. They must keep an ongoing open dialogue with their children about how certain online content can make the kids feel negative about themselves.

·???????Parents and others can participate in groups like the Eating Disorders Coalition and other advocacy organizations. The goal is to pass federal legislation to strengthen social media platform oversight.

·???????Parents should maintain access to their teens’ social media accounts and regularly discuss what they see on social media.

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