Kimberly Geraldino May 7, 2020
English 21001
Professor Weyn
Oped Assignment
Should Parents Allow Their Children Access Social Media without supervision
In our current time, social media has become one of the biggest platforms for self-expression,communication, and networking. For many reasons, social media seems to be one of the most controversial tools used today by the pre-teen demographic. Social media is defined as a website/application that allows users to share and participate in social networking. Our focus will be on the most used website, such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat. Such Social media continue to evolve, and with that, different arguments arise upon them, such as how it affects children, why there should be a certain age of allowance, and many others. These Social media is, as stated, one of the fastest forms of communication, but when handed to the hand of an unsupervised pre-teen more than benefit can come out of them.
Questions are asked, and statements are said. What impact does social media have on kids? Well, when this question is answered, many of the comments said aren’t ethical propositions. When pre-teens are allowed access to social media, they are exposed to people, images, and information that can come in their harm when unsupervised. Children can develop lower self-esteem, spend more time on their phones, and even become disrespectful and ruder. Famous scenarios of parents getting a rude/disrespectful response after attempting to take the children away from these apps before dinner are well known. We also can come across the big question of “why don’t I look like this” and having the parent explain that their body is perfect the way it is without having to crave does unrealistic body goals that are constantly exposed on these websites. Social media impacts young children in more ways than one, especially when unsupervised by an adult.
When children are given a chance to use this social media unsupervised, many problems such as bullying rise, children are obligated to have an education, and when attending school, social media can become a big distraction, when asked any child if they prefer to to go school and learn or stay on their phone crawling through these apps, they’ll likely pick their phone. When kids are unsupervised while using these apps, they can probably spend more time there than on their primary priority, for example, their homework. Since the rise of social media, bullying has become a bigger problem, because these apps allowed the bullied to post and spread the message to a larger audience easily.When unsupervised and children can display and view all forms of information that not many parents want.
Many may argue that by preventing pre-teen the use of social media freely, It causes the children to not be connected to their modern childhood, stating that children should express themselves without feeling like their parents are controlling how they socialize. However this statement is completely off the table when explaining and highlighting that parents aren’t taking away the child form of self-expression, instead, they are just supervising them while they continue to use/socialize in the app, making sure their kids aren’t picking up or been completely exposed to what can be harmful to them. Supervision is very important not just on the aspect to make sure you kid is not doing or watching bad information but also to keep track of the time your child spends on their phone or if they at least got their priority done before it.
Children aren’t just exposed to what they see or do in social media but also what they put out there. Social media has played a big part in many cases of kidnapping, etc., due to the fact that many children post/tell their location. On Snapchat, when you enter the map of the app, you can see how many people on a daily basis constantly share their location for everyone to see. It is not just the problem of sharing the location that is raised but also the people to whom your child is socializing. Many children are tricked by older adults who “cat-fish” children in order to get them to do or meet with them. These people usually spend a large amount of time communicating and becoming friends with the child to develop a true connection with the kid. If the parent is not supervising to whom they are talking, the parent wouldn’t know what the kid is exposed to.
Overall your children are exposed to danger every single time they log in to any of these apps, not just mentally but also physically exposed to different information, people, and images. If unsupervise and child can hurt and be harmed by people and other things they have access to through the social media. Supervision is very important throughout the pre-teen stage since your child is newly exposed to such a big source that can be used for good and bad. At such a young age, it is easy to be misinformed and guided. I think that a parent should be able to some extent know what their children are doing at their youth, while still giving them the freedom of using and expressing themselves on the website.
Refering/ Biligiography
- “Social Media.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/social%20media.
- Jamie et al. “65+ Social Networking Sites You Need to Know About in 2020.” Make A Website Hub, 1 Aug. 2019, makeawebsitehub.com/social-media-sites/.
- Ehmke, Rachel, and Child Mind Institute. “How Using Social Media Affects Teenagers.” Child Mind Institute, childmind.org/article/how-using-social-media-affects-teenagers/.
- O’Keeffe, Gwenn Schurgin, et al. “The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families.” American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Pediatrics, 1 Apr. 2011, pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/800.
