Social Media’s Effect on Children's Mental Health

By Rehan Singh Nirvan

Abstract

Social media from its existence has been an ever-expanding interactive digital platform. It’s mainly used for online communication and entertainment. But it also has its effect on people especially kids. In recent times social media is a problem in most households. Limiting social media is very difficult in this day and age and that’s where some problems come from. As excess amount of social media could lead to risks such as: anxiety, depression, and declining attention spans (Twenge et al, 2018). Social media has no limitations, as long as the screen is on kids especially can’t control themselves and they stay up late hours and just scroll until they can’t anymore it leads to overload and even insomnia. Social media also prevents kids to go outside and interact with each other, they would rather rot in bed rather than socialize and this leads to social anxiety, low self-esteem and depression. Although many people think that social media helps in connecting with people and makes us more self-aware and healthier in reality it makes people more antisocial (as they prefer to talk behind a screen rather than social interactions) and it causes anxiety and depression since people are trying to maintain their online image. This paper gives the pros and cons of effect of social media, limitations and how to manage time spent on it.

Negative effects of social media

Firstly, excess usage of social media would give you less time for several key activities. When a huge amount of time is taken to endless scrolling, posting videos/photos or constantly looking over for notifications, most of the time it doesn’t make enough time for in person interactions with peers and relatives, which is vital for building powerful relationships and interpersonal skills. Excess use could as well disrupt healthy routines, mainly sleep, as people stay up for late hours on their phones or itch to check for notifications until their brains give out completely. In due time, this imbalance can influence, mood, attention span and overall health. Complicating it to keep a healthy and productive lifestyle.

Social media additionally reveals adolescents to footage or images which is, aggressive, harmful or incorrect which makes them puzzled or violent, especially when adolescence haven’t yet developed good skills for deciphering what’s true and what’s false. Misinformation spreads like wildfire, making fake or negative ideas about the world/ people etc. To add on, social media most of the time gives spotlight to things that are very edited images or videos of people especially celebrities forming false rumors about them ruining reputations and their success. Even content creators themselves present themselves when they look the best which makes kids comparing their lives with those online which lowers their self-esteem, not being satisfied with their body, looks and lifestyle. In the long run, pressures lead to overthinking which negatively affect mental health and how kids perspective of themselves.

Furthermore, while social media allows young people to communicate online, it might also make them victims of cyberbullying, which can lead major emotional and psychological consequences. Cyberbullying can be continuous and very hard to escape because it follows them through different platforms and goes into kids’ free time at home. This non-stop exposure is connected to high levels of anxiety, depression and stress and can affect their grades, pride and health. Research also shows that BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ youth are disproportionately affected, facing higher rates of online harassment that exacerbate existing mental health disparities (Craig et al.,2021).

Excessive screen time has been linked to difficulties with impulse control, attentional issues, and increased stress levels (Twenge & Campbell, 2019). Continuous exposure to fast-moving online content and constant notifications makes it hard to stay on task that need full attention, such as homework, reading etc. As time goes on, this decreases self-discipline, leading to rash actions and hard to manage emotions. Social media platforms are ultimately designed to maximize engagement through algorithms that exploit dopamine-driven reward mechanisms, making them particularly addictive for young users (Alter, 2017).

Finally social media creates addictive behaviors. Social media platforms are designed to maximize engagement through algorithms that exploit dopamine-driven reward mechanisms, making them particularly addictive for young users (Alter, 2017). Excessive screen time has been linked to difficulties with impulse control, attentional, issues, and increased stress levels (Twenge & Campbell, 2019).

Positive effects of social media

Gives access to kids to learning materials and custom learning. A broad storage of learning material is at your disposal on social media platforms going from online courses, step by step tutorials (on apps like YouTube), documentaries the list is endless. These resources make it easier for kids who struggle to understand in the classroom and gives them the privilege to explore different subjects or topics at their own speed and convenience. To add on, AI-powered applications (such as chat GPT), can modify learning material to fit self-study styles, requirements, which ensures better and higher involvement, increasing their understanding and greater long-lasting knowledge retention. All this helps children’s confidence going back into the classroom, participating and makes them happy knowing that they understand the syllabus.

Allows kids to freely express their creative expression and skill development. A lot of social media give tools and materials that allows kids to show their creativity and learning new skills. It varies from making videos and music to digital art and weblogging. This firsthand knowledge promote problem solving, boost kids critical thinking and creating smart business ideas getting kids ready for future career paths in the digital industry.

On top of that it gives people ways to express themselves. Posting on social media gives kids the freedom to show their talent, skills, hobbies etc. Also, when they get positive feedback from their friends and other people it makes them feel good about themselves feeling happy, boosting their self esteem and overall mental health.

To add on, social media help kids make and keep connections with friends and family by communicating with them even when they are in different countries/ locations. These wider networks show them various perspectives, promote collaboration and offers emotional support. All of these contribute to better strengthen friendships.

Finally social media creates virtual support networks. People would rather talk about their feelings behind a screen rather than expressing themselves face to face because they might be shy to talk in person, too afraid to open up due to the fear of judgment and it’s easier to talk to a stranger rather than someone you know. Online support groups have become crucial for people who are in need to get emotional help, advice, someone to talk to without being judged and every so often advice which would help them in their career. A study of people between the ages of 18-35 years old who said they had metal health problems discovered that 68% used social media to open up about one’s own experiences, half of them to discover how to deal with their problems and 66% to connect with other people who has mental illness.

Ways in which children can control their time on social media

Overuse of social media is extremely dangerous for people especially young adults here are some ways which people can use to limit their screen time:

Screen Time Limits- Let parents set a time period or a timer on of how much time their kids can spend on their devices (this method is used when kids have weak self-discipline). This would allow kids to have more time to do other important work.
App blocking- Allows parents to obstruct access for certain applications or websites which might not be appropriate for their kids.
Connecting accounts- Parents would use the same email as their kids so they can see what they watched and searched up (through search history).
Communication monitoring- This manages information flow on social media and communicating applications, notifying parents to possibly dangerous interactions or conversations.

Conclusion

In conclusion, social media has turned out to become a crucial part of the 21st century life, mainly for adolescents and children. Although it provides many benefits such as, providing access to children to learning materials (which is taught according to their comfortability), gives access to kids to openly express their creative skills and developing them, talents, hobbies and more. It also helps children keep and connect connections with friends and families and finally provide emotional support for people with mental illnesses. On the other hand, excess use of social media leaves out time for other important tasks (like homework), exposes kids to disturbing images and videos creating false ideas in their minds. Additionally communicating to people online could lead to cyberbullying (that follow you across different platforms). Excessive screentime leads to problems such as attention issues, increase stress levels and difficulties with impulse control.

Social media is not bad for kids its more of how long they use it that makes it dangerous for them, if they use it for a long time each day over a long period time would lead to many physical and psychological issues. There are ways which parents can help their kids to reduce the time they spend on social media through many different ways like blocking certain applications that are not appropriate, parents setting timers on their phones to notify them when their kids time is up and many more.