Reighard 1
Ashton Reighard
English 400
June 12, 2016
Proposal
Social media websites have grown to become a major part of how people communicate with each other online and as technology continues to improve, more people are being given access to these sites. The social norms we have today make it seem necessary for everyone to have a smart phone with Internet access. With this access, generations of children are now being exposed to social media at a young age and it is changing the way they live their lives. Social media can be a useful tool by allowing kids to communicate and stay in touch with their friends, but the use of these sites is starting to take over their lives. Parents need to help prevent their kids from becoming dependent on technology and social media to live their lives, because it can cause them to become more anti-social and have negative effects in the future.
Nowadays, if you go out in public everywhere you go you will probably see people using smart phones. Most people who actively use social media will find themselves constantly checking their phones for new post and updates throughout the day. This kind of behavior has become a bad habit the majority of people who use social media, including myself, have picked up. By constantly checking and getting on social media throughout the day, it does not feel as though you are investing too much time on these online sites. What people are not realizing is that all those small times of usage are adding up and people are using social media way more than they would believe. From the article Problematic use of social networking sites among urban school going teenagers, the authors mention that “With the ever increasing popularity of social media, teenagers are devoting significant time to social networking on websites and are prone to get ‘addicted’ to such form of online social interaction. (Meena)” What this quote is saying is that as teens continue to constantly use social media throughout the day, they can become addicted to the websites. Checking and using these sites has become a routine for kids today and most of the time they do not think about it when they do it. Kids have gotten so use to the behavior that they will do it throughout the day whenever they have the chance. Parents need to help prevent this kind of behavior by their kids. If you notice that you child is always on his or her phone it is important that you find ways to limit this kind of behavior. To get kids away from their phones a parent could participate in physical activities or other types of games with their child. A parent could also convince their children to go out and play with other kids, which would help build socializing skills. Limiting children from their usage of phones during the day can help lower the risk of kids become addicted to using social media.
With this type of behavior, it can be said that teens are becoming addicted to social media. Paradigm Malibu’s website says “Teen Social Media Addiction is a behavioral disorder in which teens become so preoccupied and obsessed with social media that it distracts them from engaging in the real world, and in turn, causes harmful effects on multiple aspects of their lives. (Teen Social)” This definition helps to explain the addiction teens are starting to face with social media usage. Paradigm Malibu’s definition mentions how the usage of social media “distracts them from engaging in the real world”, by doing this it is causing kids to feel more comfortable associating with people online rather than in real life. This type of communication can be harmful for kids growing up because it doesn’t teach them the verbal communication skills they will need in life. The Daily Universe’s article: Technology: Is it making kids anti-social, mentions that “Verbal communication is essential to human development, but nonverbal communication, or body language, reveals even more about a person’s emotions. Without enough face-to-face communication, these nonverbal cues are unable to develop properly, skewing children’s relationships with others as they grow up in a technology-inclusive society. (Technology)” This quote helps show how communication through social media is not teaching kids the skills they will need and can cause relationship problems for them in the future. Communicating this way can also cause misunderstanding between people, because without being able to see these “nonverbal cues” a person’s words can have different meaning to different people. With possible misunderstanding, relationship problems can develop and cause kids to lose their friends. Parents need to push their children to more face-to-face socializing rather than just online. A way parents can help to achieve this would be allowing their kids to invite friends over more or figuring out other ways for them to get together with friends.
Kids may be addicted to communication on social media, but what is the reason they choose to communicate like this? In John Dyer’s article Kids Are Addicted to Social Media Because Parents Are Addicted to Control, he explains what he believes are the two problems that are causing this addiction. The first problem he explains is “that many of today’s youth are over-scheduled with sports, school activities, community service, and so on, all in an effort to be visible in an increasingly competitive college admissions process. (Kids)” What this means is that kids are so busy being involved in so many activities so they can stand out when applying for college that they have little free time. He then explains how this leads into the other problem which is “today’s parents are much less likely to let their kids roam free, exploring the outdoors, riding bikes, going over to the friend’s house down the street, or engage in other unstructured activities. (Kids)” Dyer is saying that parents are limiting their kids to what they can do during the small amount of free time they have. Dyer helps to explain the reason behinds these actions by quoting a section from Ben Wiseman of Wired, which says that because of social media portraying all of the “horrifying but rare child-abduction stories” that parents are “short-ended the leash on their kids.” With parents limiting the freedom kids have in their lives; the kids are being forced to stay home with the only method of interaction being the use of social media. Children may seem to be addicted to interacting online, but this may be the cause of parents limiting their children’s lives. To prevent this parents must lengthen the leash they are putting their kids on. A little more freedom can have a huge positive impact on how depends kids are to social media.
Not all people will say that a teen constantly using social media is a bad thing. CNN’s website has an article called The upside of selfies: Social media isn’t all bad for kids, which mentions some positives that can come from kids using social media and posting pictures. The article explains why the authors believe that posting a picture online can build self-confidence. The article says that when kids post these pictures online, they will usually receive comments on them from other friends saying 'You're beautiful,' 'You're so pretty,' 'Oh my God, gorgeous,'(The Upside). If kids are receiving these kinds of comments it can definitely help make them feel better and build self-confidence. However, I do not believe this should be considered a positive effect of kids constantly using social media and sharing their pictures online; even though these pictures can receive positive comments they also can receive negative comments as well. With kids constantly interacting on social media, they also run the risk of being bullied online. Other kids can comment mean and negative things on a teen’s photo, which can lower their self-confidence. I believe the point about comments on photos the CNN article is making is not accurate because it can be just as harmful as it can be positive.
Teachers and employers may believe interacting online can give a young person experience they could use later in their working career when it comes to contacting other employees or their bosses. The website Social Media and Networking: Good or Bad for Kid’s Brain? explains how it can be a good thing that kids are constantly using these sites to stay connected to their friends. It mentions how “spending time online is essential for young people to pick up the social and technical skills they need to be competent citizens in the digital age. Kids are learning basic social and technical skills to fully participate in modern society. Kids learn to adapt to permanent and public socializing and managing elaborate network of friends and acquaintances. (Social Media)” This is a good argument to make about how the skills teens are developing through this interaction will be very useful for them in their lives. I do not believe that it is a completely positive effect though. The reason is that even though kids are become very skilled at communicating through technology, I believe they are missing out on the face-to-face interaction skills that are essential. Using social media and technology can help build skills but these kids will also need to build their socializing skills. Parents should focus on getting their children use to socializing in person with others and not just online.
People will argue the positives of social media outweigh the negatives and that connecting to each other online is a very useful tool that most kids have today. They will say it can help them build relationships with people that may live far away and also can allow them to stay close to their friends who moved away. The website Social Media and Networking: Good or Bad for Kid’s Brain? mentions how it believes the constant usage of social media by teen is a good think because it allows them to stay connected. The authors of the site say that “Social networks actually make kids more relationship-oriented, considerate, and emphatic. Kids remember people’s birthday and greet them. They comment on pictures, videos and status of their friends. They create longer-term friendships by being in touch online even when friends are no longer physically meeting. (Social Media)” This is a good point that the writers of the site are making, because social media does allow kids to stay in contact with friends no matter how far away they are. However, I do not consider this type of interaction to be completely positive for young people’s lives. Kids may be able to stay contact with their friends, but if they become addicted to using social media to communicate then they are missing out on the face-to-face interaction. By relying on technology to talk to each other, when teens actually hangout in person it will be harder for them to relate to each other. Face-to-face communication can help people to become less social awkward and develop skills they will need when engaging with someone in person. Parents need to realize that social media can be a good thing for kids as long as they do not overuse it. This kind of technology is very useful but kids can get absorbed with their online lives and not develop skills they need in real live. Parents need to try and limit the amount of usage kids have and influence them to get out and socialize in person, not online.
Since most kids own smartphones with Internet access, social media is now being used more during school. Some people and teachers believe this to be a bad thing because it can distract the students from learning or paying attention. Others believe this behavior can be viewed as a positive. The website article Engaging Students Through Social Media: Real World Experience, Creativity & Future Employability explains “It’s important to view social media as something that is not going away, and that should be used productively, rather than devalued in schools. Doing so can mean that students moving into the workplace know how to use social media as an important tool, rather than a distraction. (Engaging)” I agree with this point that the article is making because being able to use social media and technology efficiently can help these students in their careers later down the road. Even though this can be a positive, it is more of a negative because if kids are being distracted at school by social media they are missing out on vital information they may need later in their careers. Having technology skills can be nice, but it doesn’t help the person if they don’t understand what they are doing or the information they are using. Kids could be on social media in class and miss out on information they might need for the SAT, which could not allow them to get into the school they want. Parents need to try and prevent kids from using their phones during school by telling the teachers to look out for it or maybe even taking the phones away during the day.
Overall, social media can be a very useful tool for people, especially teens, to use in their lives. It can help them to communicate with friends, family, and future employers around the world. There are many other good traits about social media that make it an outstanding way to communicate and stay updated on others’ lives. The problem with all this great technology is that people, especially kids who have grown up with it, have focused a major part of their lives around it. By doing so I believe that kids are becoming addicted to social media and it can have major effects on their lives in the future. These problems can involve being anti-social, missing out on developing face-to-face interaction skills, and being distracted in school. As technology continues to advance over the next couple years, it is important parents do not allow their children become dependent on it, because it can cause kids to miss out on major parts of our lives.
Work Cited
Engaging Students Through Social Media: Real World Experience, Creativity & Future