DEbate#5 – Social media is ruining childhood?

Indubitably, by the invent of internet technology, people usually communicate through various social media platforms, as social media allows us to learn, see new perspectives, and stand in solidarity with people around the globe. I am also using social media in my personal and professional life on a daily basis and see so much value in it. However, even though social media can be used in a positive way, there are also important things to be aware of, specially for children.

Both the Agree and Disagree Teams presented their valuable information which made the debate process very challenging. Through this blog post, I am going to share the views.

Starting with the negative implications, the first is that social media is interfering with children’s physical and mental abilities. The agree team (Gunpreesh, Dami, and Fasiha) also explored some interesting facts. While the online world is undoubtedly a great place for the younger generation, many children are victims of online abuse and cyberbullying, which leads to an increase in psychological health issues in children due to stress, anxiety, and lack of sleep brought on by social media use. Although social media platforms can be a tremendous source of knowledge sharing and connection, it can also be distracting to children because they can quickly lose focus while browsing through irrelevant photos and videos, which negatively affecting their academic performance.

image source-https://c.tenor.com/OGi5g7-d-8UAAAAC/online-marketing-marketing.gif

Furthermore, social media is targeting the family bonding because most young people choose to meet new friends on social media rather than spend time with their parents and grandparents, resulting in family conflicts. Apart from that, the primary concern of children using social media is, student safety and privacy. Because we cannot simply introduce them to social media without teaching them how to be safe and protect their personal information, it is our primary responsibility as educators to educate them about online safety by providing them with appropriate resources.

Moving towards the solving factors to tackle this issue. The primary one is that parents should keep an eye on their children by giving them a time-limit. They should also motivate their children towards sports activities either indoor or outdoor. Moreover, I think it really depends on the children also, if a child is very mature, with a private account, I think it’s quite safe.

The agree team (Jennifer, Shivali and Mike) also explored some informative facts about the use of social media. I have found that several media which are treated a good source of content as well as an important tool to increase the power of digital knowledge and leave footprints over the readers. News websites according to me are considered to be an important tool where I think, I can gather information across the world which further would help me to make my student understand. I learned about three educational websites for my main project in my previous class, Desmos and TikTok, and “Khan Academy,” which is a very smart and interesting website that supports pre-service and post-service teachers and their students. When I used to teach in India, I used this digital site for the first time to teach my students, and I’m still learning from it. It is a really helpful website that is beneficial not only to students but also to teachers and parents of students.

image source-https://lirp.cdn-website.com/69e44f66/dms3rep/multi/opt/social+platforms+responsible+for+how+their+users+interact+on+their+platforms+-+johnny+phillips+law-1920w.jpeg


“To utilize social media tools effectively and properly, you must absolutely generate spontaneous communications in direct response to what others are saying or to what is happening in that moment. Be yourself. Be conversational. Be engaged.” Aliza Sherman

Although there are numerous awful impacts of social media on ruining childhood, by taking suitable steps, we can make it good for children!

Thank you

Lovepreet Kaur

4 thoughts on “DEbate#5 – Social media is ruining childhood?

  1. Hi Lovepreet!

    I really enjoyed reading your blog post and insight about social media ruining childhood. For this debate, I voted agree for the pre-vote but then through the debate discussion my perspective changed to then vote disagree for the post-vote. The deciding factor for me was that I do not feel that social media is ruining childhood, rather I think that it is ruining parenthood. There are not enough available resources or supports for parents to allow them to teach their children about the proper use of social media, when it continues to advance so rapidly. It is difficult for anyone to keep up with the latest apps or newest trends, let alone a parent trying to monitor and supervise their child’s use of social media. I am not a Mom yet, but I anticipate that this will be a difficult challenge for myself, as I see it already for so many.

  2. Thoughtful reply Alyssa. So long social media is ruining parents, it is also changing and affecting the children as well. Even if parents are provided with resources and support to help them with, do you think the negative outweighing the positive will change? I witnessed an occasion ( seminar for parents ) on the use of social media back in my home country but the result was still same.
    Nice write up Lovepreet.

  3. Thanks for your insight. I appreciated the points you brought up about family bonding and parental responsibility. As a parent, I have often failed to monitor what my own children are looking at until I come across something I am concerned about. After that happened a few times I realized I needed to be proactive and start to teach them what is ok on their devices and what isn’t. This can be really hard to do with the way social media is set up and how easy it is for children to access it. I guess I hope the talks we have and the check-ins I do on their phones and accounts are enough to keep them safe and kind.
    We have implemented family game night and nightly walks that we try to stick to so we are spending time together and I really love it when it happens. We are all able to disconnect and just enjoy each other’s company. It is not always as easy as it should be though. Another goal to keep striving for.

  4. Thanks for your thoughts.

    There are always two sides of coins and so is with kids using social media. I think another thing we learned through the pandemic was that face-to-face interactions can be virtual and we saw this in our teaching. With good digital citizenship learning, practicing as well as supervision and guided practice, kids can safely take part in social media. I think social media has allowed people to make connections outside of where they live. I liked the quote by “Aliza Sherman’.

    With good digital citizenship learning, practicing as well as supervision and guided practice, kids can safely use social media. I think social media has allowed people to make connections outside of where they live.

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