How Does the COVID-19 Pandemic Change Children’s Relationships With Social Media?

Responding to concerns over increased screen time for teenagers during the pandemic and the potential negative effects of social media use, researchers reviewed recent studies on children and digital technology, synthesizing their findings in a paper published in the journal Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America. Both in the United States and other countries, children’s rates of anxiety and depression doubled and, in some places, tripled during the pandemic.

Social media was an important source of connection and information-finding for children. Because this was so new, and it was rapidly evolving, it was a great place for people to connect, share information and frustrations, and get support.

The research finding was that children being online a lot was not the important thing. It was the way that they were engaging with being online.

There was a huge benefit, during the pandemic, to still being able to interact with peers, see family members, and still have those relationships and build those relationships. There were certainly major benefits of social media that were helpful for a child’s resiliency.

One of the nice things about social media and technology use is that it helps children explore their identity and express their identity, which is a developmental task.

Social support is an important aspect of their growth as well, and active use allows children to meet those two developmental tasks. In contrast, with the passive use, you're not interacting with somebody; you're not exploring aspects of your identity.

Advertisement

One of the other interesting things that came from the paper is moving away from the idea of specific guidelines in terms of hours that children can be online, and looking more to see if there are core activities in place to support a child’s wellness.

There is some other interesting research that was recently done that showed that teenagers, in general, see social media as an incredibly vital part of their life.

Advertisement

They see it as important in terms of expressing who they are and connecting with other people, whereas parents who were surveyed about social media see it as a waste of time and a distraction.

Research also shows that when parents try to use taking away a child’s phone as a punishment, it can increase depression and suicidal ideation in children.

Families should have ongoing conversations about media use in general, and what it means to be a responsible digital citizen. In the same way that we teach our children to be good citizens in the world, it’s important to talk about how they show up online.

The more social media accounts they have, the higher likelihood they have to develop anxiety and depression. Having just one account is better than having three accounts. Parents need to think about how their child can be online in a way that is moderated and healthy.

This is going to be embedded in our lives, for children and adults, for a long period. I don't think we understand yet the impact this will have on us, positive or negative, but I anticipate that this will change things and that we will have more screen time than we've ever had.

So, it is important to go back to those foundational things that are essential for physical and mental health. If those are in place, then if increased screen time turns out to have a negative impact, it will be mitigated by that.



Source-Medindia