Social Media and its use by those under 18
Social Media sites are websites that allow users to connect with large groups of people and share opinions, pictures, as well as daily experiences. These sites can aid with staying in touch with family and friends no matter where they live. However, in the wrong hands social media sites can be used to bring harm. Parents should not allow children under the age of 18 to access social media sites.
Social media sites can become easily addictive. They are available to us twenty-four hours a day due to the accessibility through devices like smart phones. When we are bored, sad, or cannot sleep then we can always reach out to a several friends on these sites. As an adult I found that I was constantly
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When children are on social media sites they are friending people that they do not know and have to make a judgement as to whether they are trustworthy. Unfortunately, children do not have the maturity to make those judgements. Some of the people on these social media sites are adults pretending to be children so they can engage our children and ultimately victimize. Children also tend to put all their comings and goings on the internet with no thought for who is able to access this information. These social media sites have made it even easier for those looking to victimize children. Law enforcement agencies have had to develop units, typically known as cyber-crimes to proactively monitor these social media sites and attempt to keep our children safe from these predators. Our children are posting photos of themselves on the internet with no thought to who has access to them. Once a photo is posted to the internet you have no way of knowing who has accessed it, copied it, and what they are doing with it. Our children do not and cannot fully realize the possible consequences of the online …show more content…
The internet presents on opportunity for cyber bullying. Cyber bullying is exactly what it sounds like bullying by electronic means to include social media cites. Children who are bullied are usually able to escape from their bullies when they go home. Children who are on social media sites cannot escape their bullies, they are always there on posting on their accounts or sending messages. Smartphones and other devices now send you notifications to let you know someone has posted on your page or sent you a message. A bully can now post a message or picture and humiliate you in front of all of your peers and friends. According to a study published by JAMA Pediatrics, “Cyber bullying was more strongly related to suicidal ideation compared with traditional bullying”(van Geel, Veder, Tanilon168:5) An internet search of teenagers commit suicide on social media sites produced numerous sites documenting teenage suicides because of cyber bullying on various social media sites. One particular site, Nobullying.com, detailed seven teenagers from the ages of 12 years to 17 years of age, who had committed suicide due to cyber bullying on a particular social media site. Consequently, when we allow are kids to access social media sites we are exposing are children to potential cyber bullying, which can result in suicide ideations and suicide
The definition of bullying uses broad statements to define the actual meaning. Because of this, people may view the definition differently than others. Bullying can range from physical violence to verbal abuse to even cyberbullying. Most people do not realize how common cyberbullying actually is. Over half of teens and adolescents have been bullied online and almost the same number have engaged in the bullying (“Cyber Bullying Statistics”). Cyberbullying is becoming more and more prominent throughout this time period because of the technology continuing to expand around the world. Each year this statistic increasingly grows due to the technology
Social networking sites leave opportunities for vulnerability, however, I don’t believe many youths are an easy target. Using ethos, pathos and logos individuals can create their own reality to relate to the internet world who they think are and how they wish to be seen. In mediated publics such as Facebook and Instagram, the user has complete control of his or her profile and is the only one who can allow content about his/herself to be shared. It is my personal belief that as technology has evolved many people have taken to fabricating some truths here and there and omitting details to give an ideal representation of who they are without incriminating themselves or leaving themselves vulnerable for mistreatment. The fantasy of what is or could be is more desirable than reality. In the past few years, privacy settings have been adapted to cover the growing technological advances to keep users safe from online predators.
Young children along with adults use the Internet as a doorway to push around or intimidate someone else of a different race, gender, sexual orientation, and religion or even sometimes for an unknown reason. According to DoSomething.org, approximately 43% of kids have been bullied online and nearly 75% of students admit they have used the Internet as a way to bash another student. One of the most horrific ways children deal with cyber bullying is by taking their own life. Hundreds of families each year loses their younger son, daughter, brother, sister, cousin, niece, nephew or dear friend because of the malicious, yet often disingenuous regretted words typed by
...their selves. Their identify can make taken and probably produced as someone they aren’t, which is also like cyberbullying if used in the wrong way. Social media is a very broad site. The young children can be exposed to bad or inappropriate things, and might even influence the child that it’s okay to look at or do these things.
Internet usage in children and adolescents has been increasing in a steadily fashion in the past number of years and with the increase in internet usage, a new form of bullying has developed – Cyber bullying. Cyber bullying can be defined as “the electronic posting of mean-spirited messages about a person,” (Merriam-Webster, 2012). This form of bullying can come through various mediums including but not limited to text messages, emails, videos, and social networking sites. There is an overwhelming amount of information that defines cyber bullying, identifies the demographics of bullies and victims of cyber bullying, and identifies the outcomes of cyber bullying on victims. More focus needs to be placed on who the perpetrators of this form of violence are and how this form of violence is linked to traditional bullying. This will allow researchers and practitioners to move forward with research and implementation preventative methods and intervention once the problem has already occurred.
Social media is so popular that according to a recent article published by forbes.com, “72% of American adults are currently using social media sites; that figure has gone up 800% in just 8 years”(Olenski). Social networking was originally created to simply reconnect people with old high school pals, but in recent years it has evolved into a completely different operation. When social media first originated it was also intended for adult usage, which has in recent years expanded into the usage of all ages. Social media can create a negative affect on lives because it has been proven to be a dangerous addiction, for it takes away interpersonal relationships that are essential in life, and it has been proven to prevent people from being productive in life.
Social media is highly praised in society; many people fail to see the negative effects they play on our youth. The recent increase in highly publicized cases of adolescent suicides involving social media has drawn national attention to the topic (Luxton 2012). Cyber bullying was then brought to the attention of claimsmakers as being a leading cause to these suicides, which lead to claimsmakers deciding to speak up about this troubling condition. As a result, this has brought much-needed media attention to the troubling condition we know as cyber
According to Merryn, there are 42 million sexual abuse survivors in America and in that 42 million are three million that are children. In today generation, most people are on their electronic devices and because of these devices many predators are taking advantage of children on social media, by pretending to be someone else. Apparently Facebook and Twitter are so overpopulated that perverts, pedophiles and rapists are using the social network and the numbers of sexual assault cases relate to social media has increase(Kotenko). Every minute, a child is being abused on social media and there is no way of knowing it because children today are not properly taught how to be on guard in circumstances like this
The cons of social media can be very risky, especially when the youth of this society is partaking in it. Children and adolescents are now known for inappropriate content on social media sites or just simply not understanding the concepts of privacy. A nationwide issue that has been addressed is the action of cyberbullying. This action often leads to harmful circumstances such as suicide attempts, with some being successful. In just one state in the U.S., 1,491 high school students that were the “cyber bullies” were related to suicide attempts and about 4,693 students were rel...
Online, especially in today's age, a person never really knows who they're talking to. In the documentary Megan Is Missing, 14 year old Megan talks to a strange man she met online who claims to be a boy her age and in her area. After a few days of talking, they meet at the local mall's parking lot, only to discover that he's actually a 40 year old predator. He kidnapped, raped, and left her for dead. Social media is an easy medium for predators to lure young girls and boys, especially because that's when they're most naive. Along with predators lurking on the net, cyber bullying is common among minors. According to Times Magazine, the highest rate of cyberbullying occurs among minors as young as 13. Also along with the sad truth that 73% of cyberbullying victims end their own lives. This kind of behavior exemplifies the reason that minors should not be on social media because they're not mature enough to understand that their actions come with consequences,
First of all, there are several reasons as to why social media has the potential to be extremely addictive to users. Many believe that “as in the case of other types of addiction[s], there are
"Social Media and Kids; the Good and the Bad." Kvue. ABC, 19 Aug 2011. Web. 28 Feb 2012.
Social media is described as content created and shared by individuals on the web using freely available websites that allow users to create and post their own images, video and text information and then share that with either the entire internet or just a select group of friends (Affilorama, 2012). They are more like a website allowing you to express your daily activities, beliefs, locations, likes, dislikes, photos, music, etc. They are used by creating a profile, and logging in through either the website, or apps now used on smartphones, or any portable device with Wi-Fi connection. Although most social media networks are directed towards adults and young adults, young children are getting into these websites as well. There are usually age limits but there isn’t a certainty that all the users provided their actual age, allowing whoever wants to be a member of these sites to bypass an age limit “security” procedure. Facebook and MySpace require users to be at least 13, but they have no practical way to verify ages, and many young users prete...
With all the new networking site it makes it easier for bullies to target their victims. Kids don’t understand when they reach a certain limit it can trigger the young kids mind to commit suicide. Bullying and suicide have a huge connection between the two. Getting bullied at school is one thing getting bullied on social media is another, there are more people that can see if they post public. Getting made fun of on social media can make the other kid sensitive and can get to them to the point where they cannot take it anymore. If kids have easy access to get online it is easy for them to find their victim, now a day kids know how to work the new websites. Among average 61% have received mean or embarrassing posts online and 59% have received mean texts, e-mails or instant messages (Anderson, Bresnahan, & Musatics, 2014). It is easier to bully on social media then is at school or anywhere else. Embarrassing pictures or even inappropriate pictures of the victim can be uploaded by the bully leading to embarrassment for everyone to see. It is much easier to be behind a screen not being face to face to attack with harsh word, or whatever it is to embarrass the kid. Being behind a screen doesn’t like kids socialize, which is what is wrong with the society
Stutzky suggests that cyber bullying is the use of modern communication technologies to embarrass, humiliate, threaten, or intimidate an individual in the attempt to gain power and control over them. Bullying has been around since the beginning of time. These days however, bullying isn’t just happening on the playground, it’s happening on the internet and mobile phones, making it possible to bully a child 24 hours a day. Cyber bullying follows children around the clock and into the safety of their own bedrooms. A recent survey by MindOh!, an educational company that follows youth trends, reported that nearly 80% of the 5,500 teens that were surveyed said that they had been exposed to cyber bullying. Cyber bullying affects the mental health of so many young adolescents around the world, and the issue is steadily increasing as more and more ways to bully are created.In extreme incidents, cyber bullying has led teenagers to suicide. Most victims, however, suffer shame, embarrassment, anger, depression and withdrawal. While technology continues to evolve, new means of communication enable today’s bullies to become more effective in terrorizing and tormenting their victims. The aim was to increase awareness and decrease the prevalence of cyber bullying- Year 9 at Meridan State College being the stakeholders (people involved).