{By: Dr Supriya Mallik}
In the era of smartphones and affordable internet access, logging-on to social media has emerged as one of the integral routines in the lives of pre-adolescent kids, who are also known as tweens. Parents are exposing their kids to screens at an early age for various reasons including entertaining a child, digital skill development, prompt learning and mostly importantly for convenience especially when managing household chores or fulfilling professional commitments.
According to a study commissioned by National Commission for Protection of Child Rights in 2021, 37% of 10-year-olds on Facebook, over 24% on Instagram despite most social media platforms have a required minimum age of 13 years. The study has further highlighted that most of these children posses their own smartphones for online education, referring to study materials, games and staying in touch with their friends despite surfing the social media platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.
However, usage of social media by these kids can be termed both as healthy and unhealthy, depending upon a child’s psyche. Its impact on mental health completely depends on factors such as:
- Personal circumstances of the child
- The kind of content he/she views on social media
- How much time does the kid spend on social media
- Psychological factors, such as maturity level and any preexisting mental health conditions
Depending upon the above-mentioned factors, here are some of the pros and cons of social media on tweens
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Healthy Impact On A Tween
In the highly competitive world, creating a kid’s own identity is essential and social media provides that platform. It helps them to connect with people, who have similar hobbies or experiences. At times, social media turns out to be a blessing for those kids, who are lonely or lack family assistance offline. It gives them the right environment to express especially for marginalised kids such as racial minorities, the LGBTQ community, those who are differently abled and suffering from prolonged illness. Through social media platforms they get connected to such targeted communities that encourage their members to talk about their mental health or seek professional help if certain symptoms are grave.
Unhealthy Impact On A Tween
Since a child in his tween phase isn’t mature enough to judge a content, there are high chances that the kid is getting exposed to inappropriate or upsetting content. Moreover, absence of scrutiny over the social media can impact a child’s thought process about certain issue that might be detrimental for him/her in the future course of life. Even many studies across India and abroad has highlighted that the daily social media usage of more than thrice can affect the mental health and well-being of the tween adversely. Behaviour such as self-harm, irritability, delusional and unsocial are some of the key symptoms of mental health conditions such as depression and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Therefore, it becomes essential for parents to set rules and limits when it comes to social media usage. They should take out time specially foe kids to talk or indulge in the activities which tweens like.
[Disclaimer: The information provided in the article is shared by experts and is intended for general informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.]
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