The Impact of Social Media on the Mental Health of Children

The last two decades witnessed an explosion of social media use across all age groups, which pushed many researchers to study this phenomenon and its impact on children’s cognitive development and mental health. Though there are some upsides to social media use, this essay will handle only the downsides of excessive social media use.

Depression:

Spending too much time before the screen scrolling up and down social media platforms will definitely have an impact on children’s psychological well-being, as they tend to isolate themselves from the outer world. In addition, comparing their bodies to those of models or influencers, and their lifestyles to those of others, will affect their self-image and satisfaction. With time, all these mild symptoms become clearer, more evident, and eventually turn into depression.

A study from UC San Francisco followed nearly 12,000 children from ages 9–10 to 12–13 and found that an increase in social media use led to an increase in depressive symptoms. However, severe depression symptoms did not cause an increase in social media use.

Suicidal Thoughts:

Children are left alone with their own cellphones with no supervision for too long. This makes them prone to all types of harassment online that vary from threats to body shaming to name calling, etc. Bullies have wider access now. They can target children at their own homes, leading them to feel vulnerable, fragile, and anxious all the time. Children who are subjected to this type of bullying express suicidal thoughts, and in some cases, they might act on these thoughts. A report conducted by Patchin, J. W., & Hinduja, S. (2020). “2020 Cyberbullying Data.” found that, along with depression and anxiety, increased screen time leads to low self-esteem and suicidal ideation.

Drop in Academic Performance and Social Interaction:

Scrolling up and down the screen all the time separates children from the surrounding world and immerses them in a parallel reality. Children tend to cut ties with their relatives, friends, and society. Their social skills drop, and they fail to communicate with others. Academically, the time children dedicate to study gradually drops, and their sleeping habits get disrupted, as most of their time is spent on the screen. This has its toll on their grades and performance at school in general. A well-known study by Karpinski and Kirschner found there is a strong link between worsening academic performance and increased Facebook use.

The adverse impact of social media on the cognitive abilities and mental health of children is proven by numerous studies. Therefore, efforts should be made to repel its dire consequences.