10 Reasons why Social Media Should Banned for Children Under 18

10 Reasons why Social Media Should Banned for Children Under 18

10 Reasons why Social Media Should Banned for Children Under 18                                                                                                                


Social media is a big part of entertainment in many people’s lives. Online social groups began in the early 90’s, when the internet first became mainstream. It was an exciting time for students and young adults, especially. Home computers were not the norm yet, however, college students could visit the lab at school. There were even waiting lists to get a seat in the lab. Chat rooms were the first hint at social media. Instead of typing up an English paper, students would find a chat room and enjoy the connection with people from all over the world.


New responsibilities and dangers also came with the introduction of these chatrooms. Over time, people figured out how to track down who was online. It soon became apparent that there was more going on than innocent conversations. Social media today poses many dangers for kids, especially. You can never be sure who is present behind the face you see on the screen. Social media is now a hot spot for child predators. They can easily pretend to be a child themselves, as the prep their victims. Internet safety is now taught by almost every school, and parent.


Social media can easily take up several hours during the day. It can be difficult to tear ourselves away from social media apps on our phone. We have been conditioned to have access to everything that everyone else is doing, at all times. This makes it difficult to focus on the present. Life can be happening all around us, yet we often refuse to take notice.


Social media is a useless distraction


When people are out in a crowd, you can often look around and see a large majority of people with their head down. This has even led to some injuries of individuals that are not looking where they are going. People have been caught on film, falling into fountains, and running into walls. It is not just a mobile phone problem. Some people are distracted by simple texting, however, many are checking their social media. People even meet up in person, only to be seen ignoring each other to look at their phones.


Social media also causes major issues for drivers. There are wrecks every day because of people that are checking their phones for various reasons. These often result in severe injuries and even some fatalities. There are numerous ad campaigns that focus on phone safety when driving. There have also been several laws passed that prohibit the use of cell phones while driving.


Social media can also distract us from what is real. Pictures on social media only catch a glimpse of what our lives are really like. We can easily distract others, and ourselves from the troublesome parts of our everyday lives. Social media does not always replicate our true selves. It is a distraction in itself, and can be

9Not Real

We all know the dangers of fake news stories and its virulent spread on social media


When we put our pictures on social media, we usually take several so we can pick the best one. There are also many editing options and filters on phones and computers. The pictures we send out are no always the most real version of us. They are not what people would see in person. This part of social media leads people to form the wrong opinions about others. This can be taken to the extreme when major parts of a picture are changed.


You may also think that everything is going well for someone because they post smiling photographs on their social media site. This is not always true. Many people try to create a life on social media that they wish was real. These pictures, based on wishful thinking, can become a false reality for the social media user. They may even wish to hide from face to face meetings, as they want to maintain their online persona.


Social media can also lead to the perception that everyone else is perfect. Some people may think that others have little to no flaws, because of what is on their social media page. This can lead to self-doubt, and unhappiness. When people meet in person, they are able to see the humanity of others, instead of a false character.

8Hidden Dangers

Social Media is a haven for child predators


Social media can be a dangerous thing when people are not careful about screening their contacts. Child predators look for kids online to abuse. They may only be looking at pictures, however, they are also looking for more interaction. An older man may pose as a child of the same age to entice a child into a conversation. This practice of “grooming” can go on for months before they attempt to meet the child in person.


Many social media sites also give the option to change your settings to private. This is a very important step when young members are involved. Many lie about their age to get onto the social media. Parents may not know they even have an account. Adults can also set things to private, so that the public cannot see any of their family photos.


You may also notice that ads pop up repeatedly while you are on your social media site. These are often tailored to your search history. Your information is shared over and over to companies looking to make a sale. Be careful what pages you visit, as you could end up linked to some unsavory individuals.

7False sense of Security

Everyone is tough online


Social media seems to make people braver to speak out than face to face meetings. Many people think they are untouchable when they are rude on social media. People tend to have a false sense of security when they are acting tough on social media. They do not take into account that people can find out who they are and report them to the site. Many people get into in-depth arguments in the comments on a social media post.


It is amazing that people seem to think they are invincible when they are on these sites. They seem to become someone else, forgetting that they are still a human being with a face, a life, and a home that is being neglected. It is not realistic to think that you are untouchable on social media. Hiding behind a wall of text comments is not going to accomplish anything but, perhaps, an argument. Remain aware of who you are and how you are talking to others as you scroll through your feed on a daily basis.


You may also think that you are safe on the site. This security may be due to the fact that you create your own page, and it is full of your own business. When you are on social media, however, there is no such thing as complete privacy. You would do well visit each sites description page to read through their privacy policies.


Social Media is ridiculously addictive.


Modern culture is full of addictive things. High fat foods are a part of most people’s diet, drugs are everywhere, and social media sites are taking over. Many people check their sites throughout the day. To see how addicted you are to these sites, simply set a timer to go off when you are allowed to check your social media. You are likely to find that you reach for your device several times before the timer ever even goes off. You can also write down the time each visit. This log can also include how long you spent on the site. It can be surprising to find out about our own addiction to social media.


Society does not need any more addictive items. Our culture is be becoming a sea of addictions with a lack of face-to-face social skills. There are new sites coming out all of the time, as well.  This can be remedied by taking some of the sites off of your device. This may make it much harder to access, giving you time to think about staying off of it. You may also be surprised at how much you enjoy the break. Sometimes an addiction can take all the fun out of the thing that caused it, in the first place.


You may be able to recognize constant behavior complications in your children if they have reached a higher level of addiction. When you take the phone away for a punishment, they may talk back more rudely than normal. They may also seem to become restless and extremely irritate. This can also be met with many tears, as they do not know how to cope without their social media.


Bullies love social media


Unfortunately, bullying is also an issue when it comes to social media. Bullying has been a part of society for generations. It is an extremely frustrating aspect of humanity. Cyber bullying has been a consistent meh the most recent episodes seem to involve a lot of students. These range from elementary to high school age issues. In some cases, the bullying has gone far enough for an individual to take their own life. This is no way for kids to behave. All life should be treated with respect.


Bullying is not an acceptable form of communication in any realm. Social media gives bullying one more outlet for unkind individuals to make an appearance. When people are bullying online it may be a remark that is made on the page. This may even be sent in the messages. More extensive bullying happens when hate messages are spread on posts that end up front and center on the persons personal page. This is available for everyone to see and can be humiliating.


It is important to keep your profile private, and distance yourself from those leaving unkind comments. If you have a collection of posts that are especially aggressive, be sure to save the images for proof if necessary. You do not have to allow anyone onto your personal page that you do not get along with in person. Remain firm in your mindset, and remove any troublesome individuals from your “friends” section

4Replaces Real Life

Kids should be playing outside not posting half-nude pics on instagram


People are already too busy to spend quality time together. Increased social media usage makes in –person meetings even more rare. It can be nice to check in on your friends when you are busy at work, or away for the weekend. It is, however, not necessary to constantly be on social media when you can opt for a live activity. It is important to find a balance between technology and real-life. There are many scenarios where people sit at home and scroll through social media, instead of picking up the phone to simply see how someone is doing.


It is the personal touches in life that make it worthwhile. Everything is done behind a phone or computer screen. This eliminates sincere handshakes and warm hugs. It also takes a way a lot of the sincerity that comes from personal conversation. On social media you can simply type in anything, whether you mean it or not. In person it has to be sincere, or the other person may notice. There is no reason to limit your live visits, social media isn’t going anywhere. People need to get out more, and rely less on their phones.


The social graces are becoming a thing of the past, as we are able to do more and more online. You can go days without ever hearing a human voice in today’s world. Texting has replaced phone calls. This has become so common, that people actually get irritated when their phone rings. No one wants to talk in person. It has become an annoying waste of time. Even most businesses have adopted robotic phone messaging.

3Increases expectations/ Self-Esteem Issues

Social media serves primarily to shatter young girls’ self-esteem


Social media can also wreak havoc on the self-esteem of the majority of people. When it comes to ideals, social media is only making things more difficult. Many kids look to social media to get their news for the day. This often includes information on celebrities. Kids are bombarded, daily, with images of women and men who are considered “perfect”. This can be terrible for young girls, especially. They do not think about the plastic surgery, and the many hours of training that it takes to look that way. It is also a reality that most of these photos are altered in some way.


Social media news likes to put celebrities at the forefront, instead of other important news. These pictures set the expectations high for young people. They expect to date people that look perfect, yet this is not realistic. They tend to hold other people to these expectations, and are never satisfied when they are in a relationship. There is always something to compare it to, that makes it seem not good enough.


Self-esteem can be a big problem when it comes to social media. The many different photos and stories make some people think they are terrible looking, or that they are not successful enough. This is a terrible part of social media. No one’s self-esteem should suffer due to something like this. Celebrities are such a small part of our population, yet they take over our social media news and set out expectations high. The result is poor self-esteem for many people.

2Lack of Emotions

It’s impossible to convey tone online. Even with emojis


Text messages are often met with confusion, as you cannot always tell what the other person is trying to tell you. The tone and emotion are missing in text messages. The same goes for social media posts and comments. It is easy to take something the wrong way, as there is no human voice to gather information from. People may also seem somewhat cold on social media. They are more concerned with looking a certain way, than how people are feeling. Relationships can suffer when they only exist on social media.


Social media is a great way to keep up with friends and family when you cannot be around, but it is not the avenue to use when passing along certain messages. When someone needs to be congratulated, thanked, or it is a birthday, it is very impersonal to type a quick message on the social media. Even if this is accepted as fun, a more personal greeting should follow, however, it rarely does. Few things can replace a heartfelt message that is stated with emotion.


Everything is slowly becoming replaced with technology. Our social lives, however, have already been compromised. This began with the first chatroom. When you are out and about during the day, you may even lessen the emotion you express when you are talking, due to your distracted state of mind. Many of us are glued to our phones while we are waiting on the checkout person at a store. It pays to be nicer when given the chance. Human interaction is rare these days.

1Time Consuming

Social Media is a huge waste of time.


Daily activities are almost always busy. Jobs, school, and sports can take up a lot of time. When we do have downtime, it is often spent back on the screen. Social media apps are some of the most popular apps that people like to enjoy while they relax after a long day, Social media apps, however, are used for many other things. When you think about running around during the day, think about how many times you check your social media per day.


All of the hours you spend on social media in a day could be spend on something much more worthwhile. Pay attention to the amount of social media that you use. It can be easily remedied. You may feel better after limiting your social media time for a time period. It is much easier to do this if you enlist the help of a friend. This way, you can be accountable to one another during the journey.


Many people procrastinate when they need to get something done. Social media is a big issue when it takes up time you should be spending on something else, this keeps you from getting projects for work or school done. Social media was meant to be an addition to a regular social life. For many, however, it has begun to take up all of their social time. Anything can be detrimental when it exceeds moderation.




Social media started out as a fun way for people to stay in touch. Some apps even help you to find long lost friends. This can be a great way to initiate contact and stay in touch, however, social media has taken over. Instead of simply using social media as a tool to enhance a social life, some have turned these apps into a life of their own. It can be daunting to try and quit a habit that is such a big part of your day. In order to improve your relationships, step out from behind your computer and meet face to face.


There is so much to do when you are not on the phone. It is worth the effort to limit your social media. Time with friends, volunteer work, and a million other thing can be accomplished. Kids that experience bullying at school need to get off of social media and be surrounded with people that care about them. This is no time for meaningless comments. The tone and emotion in the voice of a friend can make all the difference. There are a lot of reasons why social media needs to be limited.


Mainly, social media changes the way we react to each other, as whole. We are tuned in to our devices, and not the humans around us. Sometimes people don’t think about how they treat each other. They can get even uglier on social media, because it is so impersonal. Varying information on social media can lead young people to be unkind to themselves and others, when it comes to making comments.  Take some time to bring the real people back into your life. Social media shows known sign of slowing down, however, it can help to be aware of the situation.