Social media is a new challenge for children and parents. Currently, young children and adults have stopped having a social life by creating a “virtual” in social media, warned the University of the Valley of Mexico (UVM) professor Erick de Jesús Olvera Monterrubio.
In a statement
The UVM teacher, Campus Texcoco, explained that social media such as Facebook could negatively impact young people, as it distorts the development of their socialization skills to the extent of having more virtual friends who do not know if they exist or if They are as they say they are.
“Before, when you went to a restaurant, you heard voices, conversations, people talked, now you only hear the clicking of the phones,” said the psychologist.
The specialist
Said that the use of this type of virtual tool has led to the loss of social and family activities, such as sharing food, which means that the socialization process is not optimal.
He said that in the case of children, they should not have access to any type of social networks because, in cognitive maturation terms and at the brain level, they are the ones who suffer the greatest negative effects.
“The process of social media affects the natural process of thought and cognitive processes,” he said.
Regarding adolescents
Between 15 and 19 years old, he said that the use of social networks could be functional, but with close monitoring of parents.
In this case, it is necessary to monitor adolescents to know what they see, what their groups are, who their friends and what they broadcast, he said.
The expert recommended that parents maintain a relationship of trust and communication with their children to anticipate risks and sensitize them about what they can or cannot share.
However, he said, not everything is negative because, in the case of young people and adults, social networks can serve as an escape valve to situations of crisis and natural stress.
“I have seen how some people in real life did not make a connection or relationship with other people; they are left alone, so in social networks, they find those people who are helping them not to fall into a process of depression,” he concluded.
Social Networks
In the study, the most used social media were Snapchat, Instagram, Musical.ly, and WhatsApp. Although some use Twitter and Facebook, platforms that are little used by children. The younger kids didn’t have a connection routine, but they did it several times a week. The older ones, on the contrary, had the habit of connecting at multiple times of the day. And some throughout the day. The use of networks allowed the children to be more creative and feel happier when interacting with friends, which helped foster relationships. The need of the social reaffirmation of the image. The feedback between peers. And aspiration to unattainable lifestyles began to appear.
In summary, when classifying children’s thoughts between positive and negative. Talking with family, having a good opinion of the future. Learning new things, being able to laugh, and making others laugh. Showing one’s own personality, creating things other people like. Sharing accomplishments with friends and getting homework help.
But, the negative aspects were more
Concern about what others think of them, receiving and reading comments from others. Concern about how their brothers use the networks, not knowing who to trust. Seeing things that are not intended for them, not understanding. Why do parents publish photos of them? Using social media because everyone uses them. Being scared of what could happen if they were not safe on the networks. Being different from the people who share the networks, having nothing good to post. Feeling jealous of those who have or do other people, sometimes not knowing what to do when bad things happen on the networks. Receiving many messages even when you do not want to use your cell phone.