Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Help your kids Thrive online..
It’s safe to say that parents everywhere are relieved to have their kids back at school – for many reasons.
One main one is to get them away from screens as far too much time is spent on electronic devices to curb their boredom. And this use of TV, phones, tablets and laptops was exacerbated during the lockdown.
Staring at a screen for too long is a dangerous habit and can cause much bigger problems than just giving kids “square eyes”. And the biggest threat is social media.
One mum from Northern Ireland carried out research into the effects overuse has had on youngsters during the pandemic. Dr Deborah Webster, who lives in Craigavon, Co Armagh, with her husband and two children, conducted an academic study last year which found using social media can cause low selfesteem, poor body image and sleep deprivation.
After dedicating three years to studying the issue, she was convinced of the need for education in this area, so much so that she decided to set up a social enterprise called Thrive Academy which aims to help young people cope with the negatives of the online space by educating them, parents and teachers.
After receiving a grant from Queen’s
University, which funded branding and the development of a website, Deborah piloted lessons in her old school.
They were delivered in an interactive and fun way and explored important themes such as comparison online, edited selfies and fake news.
With school buildings closed from January this year, Thrive
Academy moved online and the
Parent Workshops were delivered via video conferencing.
To date, more than 300 parents from all over the UK and Ireland have attended Thrive Academy Parent Workshops.
Dr Webster, who recently graduated from Queen’s University with a PhD, said: “One thing we’ve all learned over the past 18 months is how much we love and need our devices. Can you imagine living in a pandemic without Facetime to stay connected with family and friends?
“By the age of 15, 95% of UK adolescents are using social media. Parents were grateful that their teens could keep in touch with pals and peers at school, to help cope with the isolation and during periods of lockdown, and half relaxed rules about their children’s online activity.However, as family life returns to something more like normal, many of us are finding it hard to reintroduce old routines that didn’t see youngsters so reliant on technology.
“Although there are many positives to it, teens are spending hours scrolling through edited images of others and, as a result, their self-esteem, confidence and mood often plummet. Others are obsessed with playing online games and parents worry about a lack of social skills and interest in other things.
“Before my PhD, I had a role in safeguarding training during which time I delivered workshops on internet safety for parents and youth leaders.
“More often I was hearing children were aware of the risks of online grooming and what they were more concerned about was what impact scrolling through Instagram for hours at a time was having on their child’s self-esteem.
“I didn’t have the answers, and did not know where to find them, so when the opportunity came up to study the relationship between wellbeing and social media, I left my job and jumped at it.”
And Dr Webster says educating children on how to handle social media and setting boundaries on its use can begin at any age.
She added: “My advice for parents of young children is that it is never too early to put good practices in place when it comes to technology and your child.
“Have set times for tablets/ devices and stick to them. In our house it was always 4pm – when everyone is tired and hungry, the toddler is struggling without their nap and dinner needs to be made.
“Always carry books in the car and bag so when a young child needs to be entertained in a coffee shop or in the pram, there are alternatives, don’t always reach for the phone but use it as a last resort.”
■ To find out more about Thrive Academy and the services offered visit www.thriveac.org or follow @thriveac on Facebook.