Hello there,

It is 03.07am but I am fully awake, passionate about my new blog and blogging about issues that affect children all over the world. one of such is the impact of social media on the lives of children, and how much pressure it could be adding to children’s lives.

Although social media (twitter, facebook, Tumblr, Youtube, Linkedin etc  are used not only a very powerful socialization tool but also as a tool to facilitate learning most especially in children. It also plays a significant role in terms of changing the way people communicate, seek support, gain easy access to communities, and knowledge, the disadvantages are also enormous.

With new apps, video, photography and smart technologies proliferating the internet whereby, photos and other content can easily be created, edited, and easily shared, both children and parents no longer have the control that they might have been enjoying previously when communication used to take place via a physical space setting.

In those days, parents could tell who their children might be talking to at any time of the day. Now, companies keep track of the habits and demographics of the people who visit their sites. They use this data to bombard these kids with advertising. This deprives the kids of the time they need to invest in their studies but spend more time on materialistic issues. This is where the risk sets in for children, teens, and even parents.

One of the negative effects of social media is in the risk of children being bullied online. Because these children are often not aware of the privacy policies on social media and whether or not their privacy is being violated. almost every mobile app requires access to your contacts, photo, files etc. Any attempt to answer no to their request might result in one’s inability to download the app. This is to me like a trade and barter, giving away your privacy concerns for an exchange with a social media access.
Prior to now, parents could walk into a school where their child is enrolled and speak with the authorities. Now, the bullying takes place online with little or no trace of its occurrence. This way children get exposed to mental issues such as depression, negative peer comments, verbal and sexual abuse; poor grades and on the extreme case even suicide.
According to an adage; “Too much of everything is bad.” Thus, the need for moderation on the amount of time children spend on social media, monitoring the calibre of people kids interact with online and their mental health at all times.
We will be happy to receive your comments on the above issue please as to how children and parents can ensure that children are given the necessary space to be kids with resultant effects of being bullied online at the barest minimum.
Kind regards

Picture: Courtsey of Freepik.com


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