Engaging in the many forms of social media is a routine activity, which, researchers have shown to be of benefit to adolescents and children by enhancing communication, technical skills and social connection. Social media sites for example Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, and MySpace provide multiple daily opportunities for connecting with classmates, friends and people sharing common interests. In the recent years, the number of adolescents and pre-adolescents using these sites has increased dramatically. According to a recent study, 22% of teenagers log on to their favorite social media more than ten times a day. In addition, more than a half of all adolescents log on to their social media more than once a day. These results are facts giving my friends and me as examples. We are signed up to almost every social medium and are always talking online even while in class.
The issue in question is, just how much are teenagers influenced by social media? I dare argue that because of teenager’s limited capacity for peer pressure susceptibility and self-regulation: Adolescents face great risk as they experiment with social media. Recent research indicates that there frequent online expressions of behaviors done offline such as cliques, sexual experimentation and bullying which, have caused problems such as privacy issues, cyber-bullying and sexting (O'Keeffe, 2011, 800). Other issues meriting awareness include internet addiction and sleep deprivation.
Around 75% of teenagers own mobile phones today, 54% use then for texting, 25% for social media, and 24% for instant messaging. Therefore, a large part of my generation is emotional, and social development is occurring on cell phones and the internet (O'Keeffe, 2011, 810). Many adolescents myself included admitting to not performing chores, getting annoyed when bothered while online, staying online past bedtime and lower productivity in class. My friends and I currently have apps for everything in our phones, making it much easier to access our social media accounts. These apps are a major distraction while doing chores, and studying.
The movies and television shows teenagers watch frequently during prime time depict and talk of sexual activities. Television series like Pretty Little Liars, Gossip Girl and Vampire Diaries and movies such as Mean Girls and Apollo show teenagers what to do in order to fit in the crowd. Shows such as 16 and Pregnant Teenage depicted teenage pregnancy as being the norm in the society today. However, the idea of sexual responsibility and risks are rarely or never discussed in the shows. Studies show that teenagers between 12-17 years watching these shows are likely to participate in sexual activities than adolescents not watching the shows (Brown, 2001, 14). Parents leave their teenagers up at night watching television and later sit and wonder what is happening to their children. The reality is, the more our parents keep us off the couch watching television, the less trouble we are likely to involve ourselves.
According to Brown (2001, pg. 14) talk shows that often feature dysfunctional couples publicly discussing their troubles and infidelities are a favorite among the teenage audience. These shows discuss explicit sexual behavior. Sexual themes are the most frequent on the shows teenagers prefer, for example, in the Jerry Springer Show rather than shows that attract a mature audience such as The Oprah Winfrey Show. Women and teenage magazines have a big influence on young adolescent girls. Magazines such as Vogue, Paper, and Seventeen are designed to primarily to tell girls that the most important function in their life is to look sexually attractive enough to attract desirable men. Naked cover girls are frequent in these magazines such as in the current issue of the Paper magazine where a celebrity is featured as the cover girl. A sexual theme as well transpires in these magazines.
Music and music videos loved by teenagers continue to be mainly about sexuality and sex. Music tends to become an important part of an adolescent's life as the images, sounds enhance their moods, and they learn more discover themselves and the youth culture (Brown, 2001, 15). Teenagers often relate to the lyrics in these songs. "Chains and whips excite me,” “Sex in the air, we do not care” are lyrics from a popular song by Rihanna, an artist loved by adolescents between the ages of 13-20. These lyrics influence sexual activities in adolescents (Kistler, 2010, 616). “So what we get drunk, were just having fun,” These lyrics are from a song by Wiz Khalifa also a popular artist among adolescents promoting the use of alcohol and drugs among adolescents.
These lyrics influence teenagers to think that the themes they depict are the only way to go in order to fit in the crowd in school and among friends (Brown, 2001, 15). In my opinion, parents should not let their children sit and listen to such music all day; instead, they should encourage their adolescent children to become active in healthier activities. Such activities include joining dance classes, drama, school clubs or listening to Christian stations instead. Parents should keep their children active in order to rid them of idol time, therefore, keeping them away from mischief.
Online gaming, X-Box, the Nintendo box or FIFA have become an addiction among adolescents today. Video games have many consequences including obesity, violent and aggressive behavior and becoming addicted. Addiction to gaming affects the child’s life and their family’s too. Studies conducted by the American Medical Association show that more than 90% of adolescents play video games. Of these adolescents, 10% are addicted to gaming. This addiction often leads to aggressive behavior (Young, 2012, 355). Games such as Grand Theft Auto awards players for stealing cars, and having sex with other players in the game. Other games such as First Person Shooter reward players when they kill somebody. These games are completely inappropriate for teenagers.
When a player is gaming, they are on a pathological mode, which makes them think stealing cars, and killing is okay (Young, 2012, 355). This reasoning can affect their normal behavior when they are not gaming, and the start become aggressive. To control this from happening, I think parents should limit the time their teenage children spend playing video games, buy them non-violent games or take away their video games in case they display aggressive behavior. Obesity results from gaming because active gamers spend too much free time on their computers instead of exercising, and while they play, they eat more than they think they do.
Two theories on how adolescents learn from the media have dominated studies on how social media affects the youth. Gerbner’s Cultivation theory focuses on television primarily as the dominating cultural storyteller for adolescents. The theory predicts that those viewers who spend a lot of time watching television shows are more likely to accept the world's view frequently depicted on TV than those who rarely watch television (Brown, 2002, 15). The Social learning theory further predicted that viewers are more likely to assimilate and imitate behaviors they often see depicted by attractive actors and models not punished or rewarded. In addition, his theory predicts that an imitation is most likely if the viewer thinks, the portrayal is realistic and desire to be like the media character. (Brown, 2002, 15)
Conclusion
If parents were to set rules on the time their adolescent children should spend using social media then, the issues their children are facing at home and in school would reduce. It is undisputable that the media plays a huge role in adolescent’s behaviors, but these behaviors are controllable. Parents should never forget that they are in control. With different types of social media being developed daily, it is the high time parents took charge and pushed their adolescents to become involved in healthy extra curricula activities. These activities include exercising, drama or painting.
The National Commission on Adolescents’ Sex Health supported an excellent set of guidelines that if put in place could promote a better balanced and healthier sexuality image on social media (Brown, 2001, 20). Social media influence will continue to rise as new songs come out and, new TV shows and games come up. Controlling the time one spends on social media will lead to positive outcomes. Parents should be educated to know the importance of social media as an influence in their children’s lives. Ultimately, a society of more media-literate parents should result in a more responsible and responsive media industry and develop a culture that will nurture healthy media use.
References
Brown, J. D., Steele, J. R., & Walsh-Childers, K. (Eds.). (2001). Sexual teens, sexual media: Investigating media's influence on adolescent sexuality. Routledge.
Kistler, M., Rodgers, K., Thomas, P., Weintraub, E., & Hill, L. (2010). Adolescents and Music Media: Toward an. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 20(3), 616-630. doi:10.1111/j.1532-7795.2010.00651.x
O'Keeffe, G. S., & Clarke-Pearson, K. (2011). The impact of social media on children, adolescents, and families. Pediatrics, 127(4), 800-804.
Young, K. (n.d.). (2012) Understanding Online Gaming Addiction and Treatment Issues for Adolescents. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 37, 355- 372. doi:10.1080/01926180902942191
