With technological advancements happening around the world, should children and teens aged 7-13 be allowed access to social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Multiply, among others? According to John Sutter on his CNN report (based on a Microsoft Research and Consumers Reports)
"Many kids use [social networking sites]often with their parents' knowledge. A 2011 Consumer Reports survey found 7.5 million people younger than 13 use the site; nearly a third of 11-year olds and more than half of 12-year olds use Facebook with their parents' knowledge (Sutter 2012)."
Giving children a chance at using similar sites opens the window for kids to experience cyber bullying, identity theft, online addiction, and privacy issues, among others. As such, they should not have to experience any of the emotional and mental stresses that could lead to severe repercussions when kids their age undergo traumas and anxieties caused by social networking.
What is Social Networking?
Social networking is a gathering of online users who have the same beliefs, values, experiences, and interests (Anon. What is Social Networking. 2012). Those who want to develop friendship ties or relationship connections and who share the same passion in sports, hobbies, fashion, business interests, and employment needs are all attracted to various social networking sites that appeal to their interests. These people actively engage in activities such as chatting, profile sharing, online dating, closing business deals, and others.
Specifically for people in business, becoming actively involved in social networking sites can prove profitable considering that the Internet never sleeps and organizations can do business daily, 24-hours a day, and even on holidays. In fact, some business transactions happen over the Internet, thus, connections and relationships are built across geographical locations and time zones (Kimball and Rheingold, n.d).
The benefits of using these kinds of sites are many – looking at it in adult usage perspective. However, minors also have access to such sites and this is where the problem lies.
Who is Negatively Affected by Social Networking?
Social networking may be a great way for adolescents to interact with each other and widen their "network" instead of limiting themselves to people they know from school or from the place they live in. However, those who are at risk of developing social, mental, and emotional issues are the children who have ready access to information on the Internet. Even though parents claim that they regulate their children's use of the internet and the amount of time they spend on the computer (Harris Interactive-McAfee, 2008), still, a huge number of children are left to do self-regulation, which is impossible considering that children do not have a sense of time yet and have limited idea about censorship and privacy settings (Anon., Pros and Cons of Social Networking for Kids, n.d). As a result, instead of spending more time doing homework and school projects, many of these kids while away their time by chatting and surfing on the internet.
According to Robin Blake, media literacy head at OfCom, "Parents who are allowing their children to go online without [adult] supervision and support need to recognize that their children are potentially at risk" (Waters, 2008).
Based on a study conducted by the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project (Lenhart 2011), out of 799 youths surveyed (together with their parents), 90% of the respondents have "ignored the mean behavior they have witnessed on a social networking site" (Lenhart 2011), and 21% of them "joined in on the harassment of others on a social network site" (Lenhart 2011).
On the same Pew study (Lenhart 2011), results revealed that "80% of parents are friends with their child in certain social networking sites, 77% have checked which websites their child visits, 66% have checked to see what information is available online about their child, [and] 54% use parental controls or other means of filtering, monitoring or blocking their child's online activities" (Lenhart 2011).
Negative Effects of Social Networking to Minors
As advancements in technology increases and social networking becomes more and more available on the internet, a growing number of parental concerns on how children use social networking sites are cropping up.
Cyber Bullying
This is a form of harassment that involves the use of electronic devices such as computers and cell phones in order to threaten or embarrass another person. Typically, children become victims of cyber bullying because they are easily exposed to social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Bebo, and other similar social networks (Anon., What is Cyberbullying, n.d).
In some cases, cyber bullying is easy to spot as some bullies send footprints of their actions through chat and text messages or posts on the victim's profile. However, other forms of cyber bullying could be through impersonation where bullies create "fake accounts" and pretend to be the "victim" posting lewd pictures as well as using profane language (Anon., Pros and Cons of Social Networking for Kids, n.d).
What qualifies this as truly a grave threat to children's emotional and social wellness is the number of reported cases of teen suicides (Anon., Social Networking and Children, 2009). As children experience bullying not only in school but also through the internet, those whose self-esteem is so low resort to suicide simply to end everything and forget about the harmful and depressing personal attacks.
Mental Immaturity and Psychological Problems
According to Baroness Susan Greenfield, Pharmacology Professor at the Oxford University and director of the Royal Institution, "these technologies are infantalising the brain into the state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have small attention span and who live for the moment" (Derbyshire 2009). She further adds that the young individuals who are constantly exposed to them could experience a permanent rewiring of the brain that contributes to kids' declining attention span and diminishing communication skills. In time, this technologically advanced age group may be left to deal with a "generation with poor attention span" (Derbyshire 2009).
As the brain becomes used to the bright lights and fast-paced actions that social networking applications offer, kids' brains might react differently when such responses do not happen in reality or when they have face-to-face interactions with their peers (Wintour 2009). As such, if a child appears to be restless and always jumping from one activity to another, parents and teachers might misinterpret the child's actions as similar to hyperactive kids as well as those with attention-deficit conditions.
Although there is truth that the advancements in technology are here to stay and in fact, are bound to improve as time goes on, it is also a fact that too much exposure to social media can turn children into depressed individuals even before they reach their teens (Novas n.d.). This type of depression is called "Facebook addiction" or simply, Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) (Novas n.d.) that affects a lot of school age children now. According to Novas (n.d.), typical causes of this psychological disorder are peer pressure, the inherent need for acceptance, popularity issues, low self-esteem arising from negative experiences on social media, and feelings of inadequacy (Novas n.d.). As their peers paint positive images of themselves on the internet, the not so popular ones begin to feel pitiful and pathetic without realizing that these peers project certain images of them only and do not have the guts to reveal who they really are.
Aside from the above psychological issues, children also learn to be deceitful as they create accounts that portray them as older than they actually are. However, as they become addicted to social media, the more they begin to feel withdrawn and isolated from the whole universe. This decline in social and emotional wellbeing (Rideout 2012) affects a child's ability to hold face-to-face conversations as well as maintain positive relationships with others.
Social Networking and Gaming Addiction
Social networking is addictive. Aside from restricting the brains of future leaders from developing, it also makes them crave for more internet time. Instead of focusing on their homework and projects, kids want a share of internet time especially when at home. As a matter of fact, in a study conducted by Pingdom in 2010, children aged 17 and below made up about 15% of the population of social networking sites comprised of Facebook, Bebo, MySpace, Twitter, and Digg, among others (Pingdom 2010).
The following chart shows the average age distribution across 19 social networking sites included in the study, namely, Bebo, Classmates.com, Delicious, Digg, Facebook, Friendster, Friendfeed, Hi5, Last.fm, Linkedln, LiveJournal, MySpace, Ning, Reddit, Slashdot, StumbleUpon, Tagged, Twitter, and Xanga (Pingdom 2010).
Figure 1 Average Age Distribution across Social Networking SItes
Source: Google Ad Planner as cited in Pingdom, 2010
The same study revealed that among the social networking sites included in the report, Bebo, MySpace, Xanga, Friendster, and Tagged are the most popular sites for children 17 years old and under (Pingdom 2010).
Figure 2 Average Age Distribution across Social Networking Sites by Popularity
Source: Google Ad Planner as cited in Pingdom, 2010
However, despite a number of kids' growing addiction to social networking, there are also a number of kids who have a "desire to unplug" (Rideout 2012) and just sit back and unwind without having to think about communicating with anyone through social networking sites. Typically, these kids have had negative experiences using social networks, thus, preferring the time when Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter were not as popular as they are now (Rideout 2012).
Privacy Concerns and Censorship
Another hot issue when it comes to social networking is censorship (Anon., Pros and Cons of Social Networking for Kids). In many instances, there is no language censorship in most, if not all, social networking sites. Sexually charged and explicit languages, including racist comments, are often used in chat rooms and game rooms that kids have access to. Unless someone reports the occurrence of such language, messages that are inappropriate for children remain posted or available in forums and chat boxes.
The same goes for photos that members post. Although sites specify that lewd and inappropriate images are not allowed, only when some well-meaning parents (or citizens) inform the site administrators about the improper images will they know about the situation. By then, minors have already seen the messages and images.
Conclusion
Understanding the facts and considering the circumstances, such as fake presentation of personal data, diminishing quality of social relationships, and how social media contribute to a child's low self-esteem, recognizing the nuances that the internet generates through social networking for kids 7-13 years old is crucial. Other disadvantages that degrade the life of the people, especially the younger generation, include physical inactivity, bad health due to physical inactivity, lack of development of emotional strength and maturity, and fragile social and family bonding.
In this age of computerization, internet, and globalization, it is the parents' responsibility as well as other older members of the family to give sufficient time to the younger ones – talk with them and share the problems of the child. Otherwise, the child will gravitate towards online chatting and making friends with unseen people for emotional help and consolation.
The use of the internet and social networking sites is not a bad thing per se. What makes it wrong is how certain members of society are misusing it in order to benefit themselves without regard on how their actions will affect others. Thus, parents who tend to be lenient towards their kids' internet access must ensure to monitor how their children use social networking sites and other similar internet applications.
A better solution is to dissuade children ages 7-13 to gain access to social networking sites because exposure to such sites paves the way for these children to have preconceived notions about things around them, which they could get from unreliable sources on the internet. In addition, kids will grow healthy in mind, body, and spirit when they are mentally, physically, and emotionally ready to accept and understand ideas and situations in their environment.
References
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