Clinical+report+-+the+impact+of+social+media+on+children,+adolescents+and+families

=Clinical report - the impact of social media on children, adolescents and families=

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Any Web site that allows social interaction is considered a social media site, including social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter; gaming sites and virtual worlds such as Club Penguin, Second Life, and the Sims; video sites such as YouTube; and blogs

Engaging in various forms of social media is a routine activity that research has shown to beneﬁt children and adolescents by enhancing communication, social connection, and even technical skills.

Social media sites such as Facebook and MySpace offer multiple daily opportunities for connecting with friends, classmates, and people with shared interests. During the last 5 years, the number of preadolescents and adolescents using such sites has increased dramatically. According to a recent poll, 22% of teenagers log on to their favorite social media site more than 10 times a day, and more than half of adolescents log on to a social media site more than once a day.

Seventy-ﬁve percent of teenagers now own cell phones, and 25% use them for social media, 54% use them for texting, and 24% use them for instant messaging.

Thus, a large part of this generation’s social and emotional development is occurring while on the Internet and on cell phones.

some parents may ﬁnd it difﬁcult to relate to their digitally savvy youngsters online for several reasons. Such parents may lack a basic understanding of these new forms of socialization, which are integral to their children’s lives.

They frequently do not have the technical abilities or time needed to keep pace with their children in the ever-changing Internet landscape.

In addition, these parents often lack a basic understanding that kids’ online lives are an extension of their ofﬂine lives. The end result is often a knowledge and technical skill gap between parents and youth, which creates a disconnect in how these parents and youth participate in the online world together.

Social media sites allow teens to accomplish online many of the tasks that are important to them ofﬂine: staying connected with friends and family, making new friends, sharing pictures, and exchanging ideas. Social media participation also can offer adolescents deeper beneﬁts that extend into their view of self, community, and the world, including

1. opportunities for community engagement through raising money for charity and volunteering for local events, including political and philanthropic events; 2. enhancement of individual and collective creativity through development and sharing of artistic and musical endeavors; 3. growth of ideas from the creation of blogs, podcasts, videos, and gaming sites; 4. expansion of one’s online connections through shared interests to include others from more diverse backgrounds (such communication is an important step for all adolescents and affords the opportunity for respect, tolerance, and increased discourse about personal and global issues); and 5. fostering of one’s individual identity and unique social skills.

Risks Using social media becomes a risk to adolescents more often than most adults realize. Most risks fall into the following categories: peer-to-peer; inappropriate content; lack of understanding of online privacy issues; and outside inﬂuences of third-party advertising groups.

Current data suggest that online harassment is not as common as ofﬂine harassment, and participation in social networking sites does not put most children at risk of online harassment. On the other hand, cyberbullying is quite common, can occur to any young person online, and can cause profound psychosocial outcomes including depression, anxiety, severe isolation, and, tragically, suicide.

Researchers have proposed a new phenomenon called “Facebook depression,” deﬁned as depression that develops when preteens and teens spend a great deal of time on social media sites, such as Facebook, and then begin to exhibit classic symptoms of depression.

Acceptance by and contact with peers is an important element of adolescent life. The intensity of the online world is thought to be a factor that may trigger depression in some adolescents. As with ofﬂine depression, preadolescents and adolescents who suffer from Facebook depression are at risk for social isolation and sometimes turn to risky Internet sites and blogs for “help” that may promote substance abuse, unsafe sexual practices, or aggressive or selfdestructive behaviors.

One of the biggest threats to young people on social media sites is to their digital footprint and future reputations. Preadolescents and adolescents who lack an awareness of privacy issues often post inappropriate messages, pictures, and videos without understanding that “what goes online stays online

Many parents are aware that **13 years** why. There are **2 major reasons**. First, 13 years is the age set by Congress in the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which p**rohibits Web** ofﬁcial terms of service for many popular sites now mirror the COPPA regulations and state that 13 years is the minimum age to sign up and have a proﬁle. This is the minimum age to sign on to sites such as Facebook and MySpace. There are many sites for preadolescents and younger children that do not have such an age restriction, such as Disney sites, Club Penguin, and others.
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 * children younger than 13 years without parental permission**. Second, the