Too Much Tech and Social Media
The image in this post is an image from Midjourney. We have a Midjourney license agreement to use images and design tools from the Midjourney site.
Her face was expressionless, and there was minimal movement from her squinting eyes – just a gaze. She sat balanced in her classroom chair with her head tilted down and elbows resting on the front of her classroom desk. Her left hand was covering an idle notebook that was in front of her on the desk. The notebook was of no interest to her. She glared straight at the telephone in her right hand. Every few seconds, her right thumb moved effortlessly and with great speed from one point of the screen to another.
She sat this way for several minutes. Other than her thumb movement, she looked like a manikin in a store window.
Close to her, students were discussing a group project. Her eyes focused only on the screen. She appeared to have no awareness of the other students.
This image of the young person is not unusual. Right now, millions of young people are staring at screens.
It is a constant struggle for teachers and parents to limit screen time for young people. Unfortunately, some parents do not even try interventions to decrease screen time – many are also staring at screens. Screens have become the perfect babysitter.
In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Facebook Knows Instagram Is Toxic for Girls, Company Documents Show, authors Georgia Wells, Jeff Horwitz, and Deepa Seetharaman describe Anastasia, a young person. She had problems dealing with social media. Anastasia started using Instagram at the age of 13. She eventually was looking at Instagram for at least three hours a day.
Instagram and other social media platforms are free and can be addictive. But they are not free. Personal information is used and sold by social media giants.
Youth like Anastasia become obsessed with images of others. The images show perfection: bodies, life, experiences, homes, cars, vacations, and money. How can you compete with people who appear to be perfect? You can’t. Feelings of being inadequate can cause depression and stress.
I shared information about the article with a high school student, and she immediately commented back, “That is nothing new.”
Facebook owns Instagram. Before 2012, Facebook employees studying analytics realized that young people were not looking at Facebook. Instead, they were gravitating to Instagram, which is why Facebook purchased Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion. At the time, Instagram only employed 13 people.
Facebook leaders know their platform causes problems for teens. They conduct studies. One of their studies shows that in the United States and the United Kingdom, more than 40% of Instagram users reported feeling unattractive after time on Instagram.
Teen girls are not the only group affected negatively by social media. In another Facebook mental health study in 2019, forty percent of teen boys said they experienced negative social comparison.
Angela Guarda is the director for the eating disorders department at John Hopkins Hospital and an associate professor for psychiatry in the John Hopkins School of Medicine. According to the Wall Street Journal article, Ms. Guarda believes Instagram and other social media contribute to the problems of half of her patients with eating disorders.
In March 2021, the Chief Executive Officer of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, answered questions at a congressional hearing. Mr. Zuckerberg confirmed his company does have research about the effects of Instagram on children.
Awareness does not mean change is coming. Do you trust researchers at a social media company or a government agency to make the right decisions and positively influence your child?
We cannot rely on anyone from a social media company to protect our children from bad online experiences. Parents need to take action. We cannot wait on social media to act on behalf of children.
I recommend that you consider the following interventions to protect young children:
Control the amount of time your child is online. Technology applications can monitor this. As the parent, do you pay for the telephone services, and did you buy the telephone? It is your telephone - you can control the online time.
Monitor what your children are looking at online. In addition to applications that monitor time, applications can also provide you with data showing what your kids view online.
Be aware that your children may look for ways to get around parental controls.
Take all technology out of the bedroom at night.
I strongly recommend that you provide opportunities for your children to participate in activities not linked to technology or social media. Get them involved in sports, clubs, martial arts programs, or volunteer activities.
Be a role model for your children. Your children will observe your behavior. During family time, do you put your telephone, computers, and tablets away?
Most importantly, teach them good online habits by having ongoing conversations. Build a trusting relationship with your child. Have discussions about what they are looking at online. Will they know what to do if they encounter harmful content? Can they identify harmful content? Teach online safety. Be a good listener and be open to discussions. Explain to them why too much social media and other excessive online activities can be addictive.
There is much more to life than looking at a screen. Our children need to learn from face-to-face experiences. They need more than online technology skills to be college and career ready. We cannot trust technology companies to provide safe platforms for children or adults. We cannot wait for technology researchers to come up with technology solutions. We need to take action ourselves. Be proactive and help your child learn how to balance technology and other critical life skills.
The image in this post is an image from Midjourney. We have a Midjourney license agreement to use images and design tools from the Midjourney site.
