Social media and its influence on the lives of teens has become the most debated topic nowadays.
For parents it is proving to be a point of contention while for young people it is as common as hanging out with friends.
Parents often ponder over the weightage of harm and benefit of social media on their children’s mental health.
Another issue they face is downsizing their kid’s social media use and making them to comply.
However, the beneficial approach will be to understand the use of social media and the quality of its use along with limiting the exposure.
By addressing both these simultaneously, we can hope to get better results in our children’s life.
It is the need of the hour to look keenly on both the pros and cons of social media and talk to your kids about its impacts on their life.
Just like anything else in the world, social media too has both positive and negative sides.
It is prudent to weigh both the extremes and then decide in the light of the results. Some of the negative phenomenon to blame are,
Unnecessary Social Comparison
Social media has grown into a big farce where everybody tries to portray to be the best.
However, the reality is very different than nice cars, smooth skins, perfect figures and tans which are portrayed.
Teens are prone to depression, anxiety, and other issues when they compare themselves to such scenarios. More often than not they compare their insides with others outside.
We have seen numerous cases where parents are forced to seek teen depression treatment as a result of over exposure.
Though parents can avert the disaster by keeping an eye on their kids and engaging them in more real-life activities.
Questionable Content
Content is both inspirational and depressional.
A heavy percentage of content is created keeping in view only the economic incentives and not the impact on viewers.
Teens should be made aware of such content and be instructed to remain vigilant in face of anything having adverse or addictive impact on them.
Misinformation
Sadly, internet in general and social media in particular is rife with misinformation.
Many groups and pages are prone to spreading misinformation in the garb of authentic one putting our youth at grave risk.
Induction of critical thinking and questioning habits can help break this vicious cycle.
Cyberbullying
Bullying which was once considered a in-school or peer group phenomenon is rampant on social media.
It can be noticed increasingly on different platforms in the form of snide comments, mean interactions and in many other forms.
This is a great stressor in our youth and shouldn’t be ignored.
Lack of rules and oversight is also another important factor not to be taken lightly and parents are advised to deal with it accordingly.
Pros of social media
We can not ignore the beneficial affects of social media on our lives.
Despite the many risks, the advantage can not be overlooked. If handled properly, social media can boost our spirits and teach us on many fronts.
Being a social being, human is in constant need of social connection.
Social media gives us the opportunity to connect with people of all colors and nationalities from around the globe.
The effect this social connection imparts on teens personality development is significant.
Moreover, we have loads of positive, inspirational content available which just needs to be skimmed from the others.
Recently, specially after Covid-19 situation, social media has tried often successfully to fill the gap lockdowns have placed in teens education.
These few positive ones along with numerous others cannot be ignored. In the end, it all falls on us.
If we are successful in minimizing the cons and maximizing the pros then we will see a great improvement in the worrisome state of our teens.