Kids and Social Media

Excessive use of social media can have a lot of negative effects on children. Psychologists and mental health experts have been saying this time and again. Last week, it was Elon Musk who said that a lot of social media is bad for kids. While it is widely accepted that children are particularly vulnerable to various kinds of social media, Musk has pointed out that the recent worry is about the use of sophisticated Artificial Intelligence algorithms that boost user engagement by maximizing dopamine levels. Calling upon parents to take urgent steps to limit the amount of social media that children can see, Musk has very rightly pointed out that there is extreme competition between social media AIs to maximize dopamine, and children are the first victims of this. What is also important to note is that Musk, a father of nine children, has admitted that it was a mistake on his part to not restrict his children’s social media use. While forced isolation, which occurred during several rounds of lockdowns, increased anxiety and stress, especially in the most fragile individuals, such as children and adolescents, leading to a change in habitual lifestyles, excessive use and over-dependence on various kinds of social media, smart phones, and electronic devices has increased the risk, particularly for young people, of falling victim to various psycho-social and mental health problems. In this connection, it is important to take note of a survey conducted by the London-based Royal Society for Public Health on how social media platforms impacted the health and well-being of young people between the ages of the ages of 14 and 24 in the United Kingdom. The survey results found that social media platforms had led to an increase in depression, anxiety, poor body image, poor self-esteem, and loneliness among the respondents. No doubt social media is good for connecting and learning, but using it too much or in the wrong way can lead to problems like bullying, stress, and health issues. But then, while social media’s reach has enabled miscreants to deliberately spread fake news and create unstable situations in society, social media has also become a hub for illegal activities like child pornography, terrorism, and the narcotics trade. Among teenagers, access to social media is mainly due to peer pressure. Children feel they have to frequent social media sites to fit into the modern world. But social media, with its unfiltered content, can create violent tendencies among children. Psychologists have pointed out that young children, especially girls, are easily the victims of cyberbullying. Moreover, since social media and pornography have close links, the young minds of children can get easily addicted to pornographic material, affecting their academic lives. Many parents are not aware of what their children are doing inside their rooms by shutting the doors from inside.