Are You Worried About Your Teen on Social Media? Here’s How To Help.


Wall Street Journal clarified Last week, researchers at Instagram studied how the photo-sharing app has impacted young users for years and found that it can be particularly harmful to teenage girls. deputies.

Instagram is making body image problems worse for one in three teenage girls, according to research that has not been made public. Among teens who reported suicidal thoughts, “13 percent of British users and 6 percent of American users followed the desire to kill themselves to Instagram,” the Journal said.

Facebook owns Instagram. Published a statement in response, in part by saying that “research on the impact of social media on people is still relatively new and developing” and that “no single study will be definitive.” Instagram noted in a statement Social media can have a “see-see” effect, where the same person can have a negative experience one day and a positive experience the next.

For some parents, the study’s findings were not necessarily surprising, given the platform’s dominance of inaccessible, altered images, but it raised an important question: What can we do to help our kids have a healthier relationship with social media?

Several experts have offered advice for parents of adolescents to surf social media, regardless of whether their kids are already online or on the verge of getting their first phone or tablet.

Instead of gifting your child a smartphone and letting them download multiple social media apps, consider letting your child text with their best friend or cousin on a shared family device, said Devorah Heitner, author of “Screenwise: Helping Kids Thrive.” and Survival) in their Digital Worlds.”

Then consider the optimal age for your child to start using social media, taking into account the personality, impulsivity, and maturity level of your child. Dr. Instead of going “from zero to 100,” let them add a social app when they’re ready, Heitner said.

For example, if your daughter has body image issues, an app like Instagram might not be right for her, said Jean M. Twenge, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University and author of “iGen,” a book about teens. and young adults and their relationship to technology.

Your child may want to use an app like Snapchat because all their friends are on it, even though the company’s rules say they’re too young. And if that happens, you can reach out to other parents to see if the kids have an alternative way of communicating that will allow you to stay true to your own values, Dr. Heitner.

Mother of three, Dr. Twenge has a general rule: “Children 12 and under should not be on social media,” she said. “The answer is no, and the law is behind you.”

The name of the law you are talking about Children’s Online Privacy Protection ActSocial media platforms prohibit companies from collecting online data from children under 13, and as a result, children under the age of 13 cannot create their own accounts. But Linda Charmaraman, director of Wellesley College’s Youth, Media and Welfare Research Lab, said children aged 12 and under could easily be circumvented by age-related restrictions on social media platforms by lying about their birth dates.

In 2019, Dr. During the first wave of a longitudinal study conducted by Charmaraman’s lab, more than 90 percent of the 773 middle school students surveyed reported owning a smartphone. About three-quarters of these kids had already started using Instagram or Snapchat, and more than 40 percent were 10 or younger when they first joined.

Developing an Instagram app for kids under the age of 13, Facebook says the new app will keep kids away from its main platform while addressing security and privacy concerns. But MPs state prosecutors and child and consumer groups they are deeply worried.

When a child turns 13, he isn’t ready to suddenly tackle all the problems that can accompany a social media account. After all, some adults still struggle with it.

Dr. Heitner suggested.

Once you decide your kids are ready to have their own device, don’t give them 24/7 access, experts said.

Remove phones, tablets or other electronic devices from your child’s bedroom at night. And if your child uses their phone as an alarm clock, buy an alarm clock that isn’t connected to the internet, Dr. twenge

“Choose a platform and a time period,” he added. For example, you could say that your child can use Instagram for 30 minutes a day. You can set this limit through your phone — search Apple for: Family Sharing You can use settings and an app called Android. Family Connection. Once the time is up, the app on your child’s phone is no longer accessible. To prevent unwanted downloads, there is also a Ask to Buy Setting on Apple phones that will send a request to the parent when kids want to buy or download a new item.

Dr. Heitner said that if you have a tech-savvy child trying to override settings like this, you may need to physically remove their device after the time limit.

You might also consider getting your child a Gabb phone that doesn’t allow web or app browsing, or the Pinwheel, a smartphone with multiple built-in parental controls, including the ability to monitor your child’s communications.

A 2019 report Most tweens and teens with a phone or tablet from Common Sense Media don’t use apps or tools to monitor their device time, but experts said it’s something everyone, including parents, can benefit from.

Dr. If you prefer not to monitor social media use electronically, you can ask your child to hand over their phone while they focus on homework or another activity, Twenge said.

It’s important for kids (and adults) to understand that the more we pay attention to our phones, the less energy we spend on the rest of our lives, and as a result, “the rest of our lives actually become less interesting.” said Anna Lembke, chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic at Stanford University and author of “Dopamine Nation.”

At the dinner table and elsewhere, she said family members should “collectively turn our attention to one another.” “We must do this to preserve these connections.” Be honest about your own struggles that hinder media use. Take digital breaks when needed and encourage your kids to log out as well.

Dr. “Social media platforms are designed to be addictive,” Twenge said. “It’s not just an individual issue, it’s a group issue.”

A study published in 2016, less than half of parents Survey respondents regularly discussed social media content with their tweens and teens.

But experts said it’s helpful to talk to your child about who they follow and how those accounts make them feel.

Dr. Heitner cautioned that teens should be particularly wary of any diet or exercise site, as they can “clog your diet” and encourage potentially unhealthy thoughts or behaviors. Algorithms will present content about who your kids are following, what they are searching for, and how they surf the web.

Laura Tierney, founder and CEO of The Social Institute, an organization that teaches students around the country how to navigate social media positively, advises teens to examine their social media settings to find out why certain ads are popping up in their posts. .

Start by visiting the Instagram app’s settings, then select “security” and then “access data”. Under ‘Advertising interests’, you can view certain things that Instagram thinks you like based on your personal data. In Ms. Tierney’s experience, “most students have no idea that it exists.”

He also offered to help your child find real role models. “It’s about surrounding yourself with positive influences,” she said. They could be their peers or celebrities like gymnast Simone Biles. Ms. Tierney said that if there are accounts in your child’s feed that hurt their self-esteem, these are the accounts your child should unfollow.

“Your job as a parent is to listen and ask open-ended questions,” she added. To get started, you can ask what your child’s top five accounts are and share yours too – and talk about why you rank them this way.

“You want to be around accounts that will help you be the best version of yourself,” he said.





Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *