Kids & Social Media: Is it harmful or good?

Screen Time has turned from a casual activity into addiction or rather daily need for adults and now primarily for kids. Most kids spend 7 hours or more than that time on screen primarily using social media apps like Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok.

Kids’ lives have been completely changed over a decade or more, they used to come home from school only to rush outside to play with friends. But now they come rushing eagerly to check what their friends have posted or just to have an urge to scroll on Tiktok.

So, the main question parents have is: is this good for kids? How is this affecting their mental and physical health and mindset? And can you stop your kids? What can you do to reduce their screen time?

How social media is affecting different ages

Young kids from 3 to 10

Unfortunately, the interaction of kids with mobile and social media starts way early then it should have been. We’ve noticed kids starting from their 3rd year being handed over the phones of parents to start watching videos on YouTube.

Then, these kids get used to phones and over time they start seeing social media (especially Tiktok) through their elders, brothers, sisters and parents’ phones even if they don’t have an account yet like seeing Tiktok videos, reels on Instagram and posts.

At this very young age kids believe that these photos can’t change but they believe that the photos are real and don’t know that people only post their best moments.  Then, they gradually start using it themselves and learn the ropes of it.

Middle aged kids (11 to 13)

This is the time when kids get their first real time interaction on social media by having their own account. Middle school kids compare themselves to others all the time and they care a lot about what others think of them. They see other kids who seem prettier, funnier or more popular and social media is just the kind of place for this comparison which makes the matters worse.

High school kids (Ages 14-18)

This stage of kids’ lives is when they’re fully living social media life and they try to fit in with their friends and try to figure out who they are.

It’s when they want to constantly seek approval and attention and they feel constant pressure to get more likes and comments and if their posts don’t get likes, they feel bad about themselves and they might even post things they normally wouldn’t do.

The mental health problems for kids

Feeling sad and worried

Studies show that kids who use social media are more likely to feel sad as they may think they are not good enough and that other kids are better. This leads to them having a very bad self image and perception, feeling of not being good enough or not having the life they envision, eventually they fall into the abysmal comparison trap of social media. Some kids even hurt themselves because of this guilt and bad feeling and these children’s self-harm cases have increased a lot over time.

Bad body image

This one affects girls more. As social media is a place of people posting images where most images are fake and created through apps and kids see them prettier and perfect-looking.

Most kids then do exercises and don’t eat enough food while some even ask for plastic surgery. It’s when they absolutely hate the way they look and want to look like what they see on social media.

Sleep issues

Mobile phone screens emit blue light that doesn’t let a person sleep. Kids using phones late at night is not only bad for their eyesight but they struggle sleeping and feel tired, sleepy and grumpy in school that significantly affects their studies.

Trouble in focusing

Social media is what they call a “dopamine trap.” Each like, each comment, each scroll makes a person feel rewarding and those short videos on Tiktok? They destroy the attention span of kids which results in them having no interest in studies and reading books that require focus.

Kids with phone addiction have trouble giving attention in class and constantly want to check their phones.

How can you protect your kids?

The good news is that you can avoid all this disaster from happening to your kids if you responsibly start taking action as a parent. You can limit their screen time and use the parental control settings on their phones (android or Iphone) to set the timer for how much they can use each app.

You can avoid your middle school kid by having a social media account and exposure to it through your phone and for high schoolers, if they’re using social media, you must have an idea of everything they’re doing and control their screen time and more.

How to have full control over your kid’s phone?

Default parental controls on phones are very limited. If you want complete control over what your kids do, you can check out ClevGuard, this platform lets you see everything that your kid is doing on your phone.

From seeing their live screen recording to taking screenshots to monitoring their web activity, camera control over their phone, what they type, what’s their location, listening to their surrounding sounds, to reading their chats and seeing activities on social media.

You get 100% control. If you’re really serious about your child’s online safety, you can get 20% on the subscription with the ClevGuard discount code coupon to take control of your kids safety.

Physical health issues for kids

Kids who spend too much time on screen suffer from headaches because of looking at the screen too much, they often suffer from neck or back pain and even weight gain because of not moving and constantly sitting at one place.

Too much screen time especially in the dark can cause eye fatigue, dry eyes and irritated eyes, nearsightedness and weak eyesights.

Wrap Up

Social media comparison is a huge problem for adults themselves, let alone kids who suffer even more because of it. This guide only mentioned mental and physical issues but it’s just the beginning, like your kids’ privacy when companies collect their info, your kids encountering bad images and pictures which immersively ruins their mindset, causing family relationship issues, a dangerous addiction, cyberbullying and more.

Sure, social media has some benefits, that’s when you need to supervise exactly what they do, you can get 20% off through ClevGuard discount code so you can actually control your kid’s health and safety.