Social Media & Mental Health In Teens

As a parent, one of the biggest worries I have is about my children becoming teenagers. It can be a really tough time, for a variety of reasons. I think back on my time as a teenager, and social media didn’t exist. The first I head of it was when I was 18 and at a party at University. Someone was taking photos and said they’d share on Facebook, and asked if I was on Facebook. I hadn’t heard of it until then, and even then, you had to have a University email address to sign up for it. How it has all changed.

I remember back then how long I could spend on there. Seeing what friends were up to, chatting to friends, and so on. Now there are a lot more channels out there, there are more things to potentially get addicted to, which can happen if we’re not too careful about. This can definitely happen to teenagers as well. They’re all on these channels, and if not monitored closely, can spend hours and hours on there, especially a time like lockdown.

I think as a parent, it is so important to educate yourself on social media and the channels available; what do they all do?

It isn’t good enough to just bury your head in the sand about these things. You need to know all about them, don’t just presume that your children or teenagers are telling you all of the information available.

Once your child has set up a social media account, I think that is is also important to remain vigilant about keeping their privacy settings updated. Social Media sites keep adding security settings to ensure that maximum protection is available, but often they will need to be updated manually, which you need to check happens.

Having private accounts is also a must for children and teens. This is an important step to take in order to keep their content private and away from people who may misuse it.

Check out this infographic, with some of the latest stats around teens and social media usage:

Courtesy Of Douglas Psychotherapy Services