We must all wake up to danger of social media

WHEN it comes to the damaging effects of social media use on children there have, of course, been countless warnings. Add to that the research of Professor Jean Twenge in America and the picture looks incredibly stark when you consider the specifics of the impact that smartphone use has on children, and on girls in particular.

The reality, however, is that most people – and, therefore, the majority of parents – are unaware of the dangers. There is a tendency, after all, for adults to view social media through their own adult prism: it does them no harm, they say, so how could it possibly be destructive for their children?

Well, the truth of the matter is that it is harmful, and what a great many adults are doing is failing to appreciate that children are different – both physiologically and psychologically. Their brains are still developing and they haven’t yet acquired the emotional maturity that comes with adulthood.

Now the findings of a far-reaching study conducted by University College London have shown the scale of the damage, illustrating all too clearly the extent to which children are suffering from depression as a result of immersing themselves in social media. The bottom line is that social media is making a generation of children anxious, depressed, and suicidal.

Why are we not tackling this? If a new medicine or a new type of food was found to be causing epidemic levels of anxiety and depression among children there would undoubtedly be a public outcry. And it would be dealt with. But because this is a social media issue and viewed in a different light, there remains an unwillingness to deal with the problem.

We must put children first. These are not simply statistics; rather, these are real children whose lives are being destroyed by social media. We must stop burying our heads in the sand. This problem will not miraculously disappear. It’s time to take action.