COVID aids Social Media Addiction among Teenagers
Children, especially teenagers have been spending more and more time online. A survey among nearly 3,000 parents surveyed, 63% of teens are using social media more than they did pre-pandemic (only 25% said they use it less, and 12% say it’s about the same). A very large majority of respondents (80%) have set rules around the use of smartphones and social media, a majority have been successful enforcing them. Forty-three percent of parents used a monitoring app or restrict device and internet use, and 68% said those worked as expected.
Social media can be constructive or destructive in enriching a teen’s life simply based on how it’s used. Its not that parents are discounting the benefits of social media, they are more concerned on how it can negatively impact their children, so as to prevent that. The report divided social-media consequences into two categories: What social media takes children away from and what social media exposes them to. The former included exercise, physical activity and sleep while the latter consisted of oversharing, sexual predators and, an inability to focus.
However, some parents have been quite grateful to social media’s role in their teens’ quarantine life. There is also evidence that during COVID as parents relaxed their level of control on digital technologies, young people are self-regulating their digital media use, and choosing to get off their phones and do other things. Furthermore, researchers say, teenagers should learn how to think critically and make safe decisions in online spaces — they need practice doing this!
Whatever the case social media addiction is a growing problem and if left unchecked, COVID-19 could tighten it’s grip on a socially active generation.
