How is social Media effecting our children’s Emotional Wellbeing?
Social media is a powerful tool for communication and connection, but it also has a dark side.
The proliferation of social media platforms in recent years has had an impact on children's emotional wellbeing that we're just starting to understand.
According to a recent study by the Pew Research Centre, teenagers who use social media are more likely than those who do not to report feeling depressed or anxious. Another study found that teens who use social media for six hours or more per day are twice as likely as their peers who spend less time on social media to experience depression.
So what's going on? Why is spending time on social media making our kids feel bad?
There are a number of possible explanations. For one thing, many teens are using social media in an unhealthy way: they may be spending too much time comparing themselves with other people online or engaging in negative behaviors like cyberbullying.
And that's not all: researchers at Oxford University have found that the particular platform you use can affect your mental health in different ways. For example, Snapchat users tend to report lower levels of self-esteem than Instagram users do—but only when they're looking at their own feeds! When they browse other people's feeds, Snapchat users report higher self-esteem than Instagram users.
Social media has become an everyday part of our lives, and it's easy to feel like it's everywhere. But did you know that social media use by children has increased by more than 400% in just two years?
That's right—kids ages 8-12 are spending an average of four hours each day on social media, and teens ages 13-17 are spending nine hours a day. That's a lot of time spent online!
The good news is that we can take steps to make sure our kids aren't overdoing it. Here are some ways to help your kid manage their time on social media:
#1: Establish limits and stick to them
It can be tempting to let your child spend as much time as they want on social media, but setting limits is important for their emotional wellbeing. Limit the amount of time they can spend online each day (with specific start and end times) and make sure they stick to those limits! The less time spent online, the less time spent feeling sad or anxious about what other people are doing on their feeds.
#2: Use parental controls
Many social media platforms offer parental controls that allow you to restrict certain types of content from being accessed by your child.