Fluent Essays

The final submission should be 8-10 pages double-spaced in length and properly use APA style and at least 6 peer-reviewed journal articles, academic books, or chapters from academic books as sources. Running Head: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY PROPOSAL 1 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY PROPOSAL 2 Effects of Social Media SaRai Pullin Dr. Davis Psyc 235 July 18, 2021 EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON CHILDREN INTRODUCTION In the past few years, the behaviors of children have dramatically changed. One of the primary reasons that have contributed to this change is social media. They are capable of changing what we do and changing who we are. Social media has been affecting everything that we do, from our behaviors, dressing, communication, and the type of music we listen to, among many other things. Technology impacts my communication skills in various ways. Technology continues to put a wedge between family and friends as people can rarely see each other apart from social platforms, which is not enough to create strong bonds that will help people stand or each other during tough times (Berryman, Ferguson, & Negy, 2018). People have completely changed how they experience the world and how they live their lives. Since people are not able to meet more frequently, the much-needed social skills are absent. People lose learning social cues and other essential aspects, such as body language, in different individuals. There is, therefore, a lack of connection between individuals and thus less empathy which is created through the interaction of human to human. Technology has continuously encouraged isolation by creating small worlds where individuals walk in their little world. They pay attention to their iPods or their mobile phones every time they are not with other people. Isolation has been attributed to people leaving shorter lives. Therefore, when we get isolated from other individuals today in the digital age that we live in today, we are much more in danger as people are not happier and have a decreased life span. OBJECTIVE This research study will look at the various ways social media has affected children. This is more important because the children, in particular, have been very much affected. Social media has affected everything that the children do, from their behaviors, their dressing, their communication, and the type of music they listen to, among many other things. In The modern age, children are growing up connected to many platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, among many other forms. This has made social media become an essential part of socialization within peer groups changing how they communicate. Social media has been a critical par today, but social medias perils run rampant and negatively affect our children. LITERATURE REVIEW The excessive use of social media has played a significant role in hindering communication skills and kids development. Kids who use social media extensively have their communication skills negatively impacted. These children who spend most of their time on these online platforms do not typically speak in complete sentences and cannot also tie their emotions when communicating with other people (TEMÜR et al., 2017). Most importantly, they do not know how to effectively use non-verbal cues, such as maintaining eye contact as they communicate with others. In-person communication is critical because, without it, one cannot know and read behavioral cues. These kids who spend most of their time on social media are not empathetic and less connected to one another. Secondly, there has been an increased study looking at social medias effects on childrens mental health. Much of the research has indicated that social medias heavy use is associated with childrens poor mental health status (Berryman, Ferguson, & Negy, 2018). Young children who used social media more than two hours a day are at an increasingly higher rate of deteriorating mental health than those who do not. This is because the childrens sleeping pattern is affected as the children wake up to check their phones and react to some messages sent to them. Sleep is essential in mental health. Children who do not get enough sleep are associated with low mood, depression, and brain development issues. Similarly, social media leads to negative body image. It is no longer a mystery that young girls become obsessed with their bodies at a very tender age. Due to social media, obsession is heightened by standards that are not realistic. They see idealized images from their friends and renowned celebrities that invade social media, which in turn may affect how they view themselves and their bodies. Obsessive thoughts about their appearances may bring many adverse effects on their health as they can suffer from disordered eating habits, among other health problems. The children being unable to attain the desired physical traits that they are exposed to on social media leads to negative and low self-esteem, a false sense of reality, and anxiety. For instance, a child who follows a particular celebrity as their role model will be unhappy when they do not attain an appearance similar to those of their preferred celebrities who do everything under the sun to look the way they do. The children are not fully aware that the media portrays unrealistic and most challenging standards of beauty. The children will sacrifice their health to be considered attractive by their social media friends, leading to negative results if this does not happen. According to a recent survey, more than 20\% of children receive or posted nude or semi-nude pictures (Hogan, & Strasburger, 2018). A lot of them are involved in “sexting,” which can be described as the act of sending and receiving messages that are sexually explicit via social media platforms. These lead to consequences such as finding themselves on the wrong side of the law, school suspension for the perpetrators, emotional distress, and other mental issues with the victims. The children on the online platforms put their privacy at very significant risk. Because of the digital footprint that they leave behind, this may affect the future reputation. Their future jobs and their college acceptance might be affected by some of the childrens things without their knowledge. In conclusion, social media can negatively affect many aspects of childrens health, including their weight status, development, aggressive feelings and beliefs, and mental health. The presence of social media enslaves the current generation of children who are under the age of thirteen years. Many drawbacks can be associated with social media to our children than the advantages of social media on children. This means that there is a need to take drastic measures to ensure that our children do not continue being negatively impacted by these platforms. One of the critical ways that this can be done is by regulating it for this group. We have to minimize these negativities and utilize the positivity’s that social media is offering to society. References Berryman, C., Ferguson, C. J., & Negy, C. (2018). Social media use and mental health among young adults. Psychiatric quarterly, 89(2), 307-314. Retrieved from: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11126-017-9535-6 Hogan, M., & Strasburger, V. C. (2018). Social media and new technology: a primer. Clinical Pediatrics, 57(10), 1204-1215. Retrieved from: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0009922818769424 \ TEMÜR, A., ÖZTÜRK, M., AVCI, M. F., & ZİYA, A. Z. (2017). Negative Effects of Social Media on Children.