‘SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICTION IS ISOLATING TEENS AND HARMING RELATIONSHIPS’

YOUNG Jews might be more in touch with each other than ever before due to advances in technology but record numbers are feeling lonely and isolated because of social media.

Sharon Daniels, welfare officer for Reform Judaism, said: “Loneliness is not just a problem for the elderly. Young people are spending a lot of time on social media and it is having a negative impact on how they feel about themselves and their relationships.”

Ms Daniels was speaking at a session at Reform Judaism’s Combatting Loneliness and Isolation Conference. She said Jewish teenagers were spending too much time on their own social media profiles instead of nurturing relationships in real life.

“We have to start to look at ways as a community that we can address that,” she said. “More than 90 per cent of young people are on social media so we can’t ignore it.”

According to research, the more time a young person spends on social media, the more likely they are to feel socially isolated.

Ms Daniels said that as well as facing academic pressure, fears of failure and of disappointing others, young people were in danger of not feeling connected to real life.

“Jewish teenagers are like any other teenagers on social media, there is this pressure to look happy and perfect all of the time. Facebook or Instagram isn’t a place where they can say, ‘I’m having a really hard time’.”

She said it was important “to teach children that they are looking at things on social media through a lens that isn’t real life.

“Seeing everything appear perfect is creating increased amounts of anxiety among young people”.

Also speaking was Rabbi Miriam Berger, of Finchley Reform Synagogue, who said that according to some experts, social media has the potential to be as harmful as obesity or having 15 cigarettes a day. She said: “We need to create meaningful environments for young people in our communities.

“Kids are bombarded with pictures of themselves which can encourage them to be quite self-obsessed.

“One good thing about our community is that we give our young people a sense of responsibility and duty to care outside themselves.

“We need to make sure we are encouraging young people to care about what is going on in the world and that their opinion on things matters.”

She said youth movements could play a vital role and encouraged groups to consult young members.