Social POTWR 2019 Vol 9: Is Social Media Access Damaging To Our Youth?

[Cubo de Sangre]

PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE OP BEFORE POSTING.

Greetings War Room Sherbros,

Welcome to the next installment of the Presidential sticky-threads. Up for discussion are the affects of social media on kids and teens. More and more we're hearing about how these sorts of online interactions are fueling anxiety and depression. Here's some compelling testimony from Jonathan Haidt, on the Joe Rogan podcast.





Here's some further reading.

Social media use by minors has significantly increased and has been linked to depression and suicidality. Simultaneously, age-adjusted suicide rates have steadily increased over the past decade in the United States with suicide being the second most common cause of death in youth. Hence, the increase in suicide rate parallels the simultaneous increase in social media use. In addition, the rate of nonsuicidal self-injury ranges between 14% and 21% among young people. Evidence suggests that self-harming youth is more active on online social networks than youth who do not engage in self-harm behavior. The role of online social networking on deliberates self-harm and suicidality in adolescents with a focus on negative influence was assessed by conducting a systematized literature review. A literature search on “PubMed” and “Ovid Medline” using a combination of MeSH terms yielded nine articles for data extraction satisfying predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria. It was found that social networking websites are utilized by suicidal and self-harming youth as a medium to communicate with and to seek social support from other users. Online social networking also leads to increased exposure to and engagement in self-harm behavior due to users receiving negative messages promoting self-harm, emulating self-injurious behavior of others, and adopting self-harm practices from shared videos. Greater time spent on social networking websites led to higher psychological distress, an unmet need for mental health support, poor self-rated mental health, and increased suicidal ideation. In conclusion, greater time spent on online social networking promotes self-harm behavior and suicidal ideation in vulnerable adolescents.

And another article on the subject.

Self-harm among 10- to 14-year-old girls in the U.S. has nearly tripled since 2009, according to a Centers for Disease Control analysis of emergency department admissions, just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

American girls, some as young as 4th graders, are now nearly three times more likely to harm themselves via cutting, poisoning, and other methods severe enough to send them to the ER. This follows a British study from last month finding a 68 percent increase in self-harm among 13- to 16-year-old girls in the UK between 2011 and 2014.

5. Smartphones and social media.

The first smartphone was introduced in June 2007. According to the Pew Research Center, smartphone ownership among U.S. teens rose from 37 percent in 2011 to 73 percent in 2015. By 2016, the average child in the U.S. got her first smartphone when she was 10.

In iGen, I found that between 2009 and 2015, social media went from an activity about 50 percent of teens did every day to an activity about 82 percent of teens did every day. Teens who spend more time on electronic devices have more suicide risk factors, and studies usinglongitudinal and experimental designs show that the causation primarily goes from social media to unhappiness rather than from unhappiness to social media use. Given the greater emotional vulnerability of younger kids and teens, you’d also expect the effects of social media and screen time to be largest in the younger groups, and that is where the self-harm increase is the largest. Thus, smartphone ownership and screen time rise at the same time as self-harm and are linked to the mental health issues that often co-occur with self-harm. It’s impossible to definitively prove that screen time — or any factor — is the cause of the rise in self-harm, but screen time cannot be ruled out as easily as the four other causes.

So let's hear what you think. Is this a problem? If so, should anything be done?

Cheers,

Cubo

P.S. A special thanks goes out to @EradiatedHaggis for supplying inspiration and source material.

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***This is an ongoing series of sticky-threads that will take on various topics in varying ways. If you're interested in leading a discussion on something please take a look at this thread and then send me a PM with your ideas.

POTWR 2019 Vol 1: Shots Fired! Examining Police Shootings In America
POTWR 2019 Vol 2: Happy Happy Joy Joy
POTWR 2019 Vol 3: Examining Opioid Addiction In America
POTWR 2019 Vol 4: Repeal Or Respect the 2nd Amendment?
POTWR 2019 Vol 5: Based On Known Facts, Would You Remove Trump From Office?
POTWR 2019 Vol 6: Internet Security Basics
POTWR 2019 Vol 7: Change My Mind That The Word "Platform" Is Orwellian
POTWR 2019 Vol 8: Should The Right To Keep And Bear Arms Be An International Human Right?

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

I'm raising my kids Amish with regards to smart phones and social media. They can get a myspace page when they are 18 as a sort of Rumspringa.

 

[tonni]

I should be neutered

 

[BudKing8806]

Absolutely and without question it is.

 

[My Spot]

Yes.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

I should be neutered

I appreciate self-awareness, but this might be bit too far.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

I should be neutered

What do you mean?

 

[panamaican]

Yeah, definitely damaging. It's damaging to our adults and we've had the chance to develop normal face to face interactions. Apply it to children who don't even have that foundation of experience and it's worse.

We're not designed to engage through media. Body language and facial cues are how our brains really engage the other person. Social media as a communication multiple works just fine. Except, as with all things, it's moved into this space where some malicious users abuse it and malicious creators abuse it and everyone else gets caught in their negative space. Kids aren't prepared to handle it.

 

[rearnakedchoke]

Nah. Its just another thing different generations need to adjust and adapt to and learn to live with. Its not about avoiding it, but knowing its not going anywhere and ensuring you are able to manage it.

 

[Long Dark Blues]

Yes, absolutely harmful.

 

[Gregolian]

100% yes

 

[spamking]

I have a 17 year-old and 21 year-old . . . I would have to say that if it wasn't for the pure sake of convenience of keeping in contact with both of them that they probably would've gotten phones much later in life than when they did. Between the texting, instagram, twitter, snapchat, etc. it can definitely get out of control. I think social media has made kids more bold and much more socially awkward.

I think it's stunted their social development in many cases . . . but it's likely also helped some kids as well . . . parents just need to make sure they're involved and keep tabs on "things".

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

I think social media has made kids more bold...

How so?

 

[Lord Commander Palis]

@IngaVovchanchyn

18+? very controlling aren't you?

 

[Gregolian]

How so?

Sexting scandals.

I was in high school when the Blackberry was still THE Smartphone to own and only lawyers and doctors had it. And you STILL Had people take nudes and before anyone realized it the whole school saw Jane Doe naked cause the picture would get past around more than a hooker at a coke party.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

@IngaVovchanchyn

18+? very controlling aren't you?

Yep. Gotta make sure Anthony Weiner doesn't text any of Hillary's classified emails to my daughter's phone. And what not.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

Sexting scandals.

I was in high school when the Blackberry was still THE Smartphone to own and only lawyers and doctors had it. And you STILL Had people take nudes and before anyone realized it the whole school saw Jane Doe naked cause the picture would get past around more than a hooker at a coke party.

Crazy how chicks think those pics will remain private. Who hasn't had their buddy show off nudie pics of some girl they were dating or just broke up with?

 

[Lord Commander Palis]

Yep. Gotta make sure Anthony Weiner doesn't text any of Hillary's classified emails to my daughter's phone. And what not.

Do your kids have phones or just no social media? My, 13yr old daughter has a phone but no social media. Maybe when she's 14 I'll allow it.

However, she's going to have the same rules til she's 18 which means daddy and mommy will always be monitoring your shit including random phone confiscations with thorough phone audit.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

Do your kids have phones or just no social media? My, 13yr old daughter has a phone but no social media. Maybe when she's 14 I'll allow it.

However, she's going to have the same rules til she's 18 which means daddy and mommy will always be monitoring your shit including random phone confiscations with thorough phone audit.

My oldest is in first grade. The other is in pre school. The youngest is still in diapers. I have time to formulate a better strategy than going Amish.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

Do your kids have phones or just no social media? My, 13yr old daughter has a phone but no social media. Maybe when she's 14 I'll allow it.

However, she's going to have the same rules til she's 18 which means daddy and mommy will always be monitoring your shit including random phone confiscations with thorough phone audit.

Random usDADa checks.