At what age should you buy your kid a smartphone and give them access to social media? For me, I had to graduate middle school, so I was fourteen when I got my first phone. It had a sliding keyboard, access to really slow Facebook via browser interface, and since it wasn’t an iPhone, everyone hated me for sending them green text messages.
But studies nowadays are revealing the negative effects of social media exposure to children, and its causing a mental and emotional crack in their psyche. Before, we thought it was just cyberbullying harming our children. It turns out, however, that the issue delves deeper than what we could have ever anticipated.
Social media is moving too fast. Kids are getting blasted all day with updated stories and information that has the potential to overwhelm them. The worst part is there’s no restriction on how much information they consume… unless you have parental guidelines on your child’s phone to limit their screen time. Other than that, the everyday use of social platforms is changing the way kids view themselves and others.
Snapchat is redefining the means of friendship, as everything is now measured in “streak length” instead of quality conversation. I succumb to the pain of sending a black picture with an “S” written on it to indicate to what Snapchat considers to be my “best friends” that I want to keep in contact with them… yet sending a blank picture doesn’t foster any communication at all. The whole scenario has turned into “quantity over quality.” And to have an app tell you who your best friends are is twisted in its own way.
Other platforms, like Google and Facebook, aren’t protecting your kid’s information in the safest way possible. YouTube is being cluttered with content creators who put money above their fan base. Instagram is causing more body dysmorphia than ever. And the intake of this information at warp speeds is going to cause the next generation to be reliant on trivial things in life. It will dismantle their communication skills and completely redefine what it means for people to be “friends.”
I’m not trying to end social media, but I think it’s time we really re-evaluate exactly what the negative impacts on our future generation could be.
