Children’s social media use a double-edged sword, say experts

AMMAN — As social media has become an undeniably major part of adults, as well as children’s lives, having children who are competent navigators of the digital age comes at a very expensive price, say experts. 

Yasmeen is an eight-year-old girl who spends no less than three hours a day on social media. Yasmeen’s mother is a full-time employee in a private company in Jordan, and her father works abroad. 

“Yasmeen comes home from school every day around 3pm, she stays home with our nanny and her two-year-old sister until I come home from work,” Um Yasmeen told The Jordan Times. 

Yasmeen is a very smart girl, who knows how to get her way, Um Yasmeen said. 

“She created a TikTok account, and after the TikTok ban, she downloaded a VPN by herself. She now has thousands of followers,” Um Yasmeen added. 

However, spending hours on the phone has affected Yasmeen’s vision. She now wears glasses, and so much screen time has also affected her academic performance in certain subjects at school, Um Yasmeen said. 

“I have an inner conflict. As much as I hate the idea that my daughter spends hours on social media, I know for a fact that this is the future, and she’s very good and talented at keeping her audience interested in her content,” Um Yasmeen added. 

Yasmeen’s mother monitors her content, and keeps the parental mode activated on her device. She also has access to all her accounts and can review all her followers’ messages, Um Yasmeen said. 

“Social media platforms have evolved into mass communication tools,” social Media expert Ayah Kilani told The Jordan Times, 

Kilani added that despite the negative impact social media leaves on children, there’s no denying that in this digital age, developing children’s digital and technical skills is a must. Perhaps most importantly, social media allows children to develop digital communication skills, which will most likely be the medium for communication in their future occupation, Kilani added.

“I personally don’t advocate children under the age of 10 to use social media,” Kilani added. 

Child behaviour consultant Wala’ Daraghmeh told The Jordan Times that despite the fact that social media helps children engage with the outside world and keep them connected to their friends and family members, parents must be fully aware of the dangers that social media poses to children. 

“Children’s mental, physical and psychological health can be at risk when using social media,” Daraghmeh added. 

Social media addiction and children spending hours in front of the screens is Daraghmeh’s primary concern about the use of the technology, as many children and young people constantly check their feeds and cannot seem to get away from their phones. Furthermore, children feel bad and rejected when they don’t get the expected engagement for a post, Daraghmeh added. 

“Likes, shares and interactions with posts are engagement tools that have been designed to be habit-forming for both adults and children — forming some sort of a reward system for humans,” according to Kilani. 

Additionally, children are exposed to inappropriate content on social media, whether sexual, violent or simply hate speech, Daraghmeh said. 

“Cyber bullying is also a major concern for children,” Daraghmeh added. 

Daraghmeh stated that children are extremely vulnerable and can be influenced easily, leading any unmonitored interaction with adults to have undesired consequences. 

“Parents are urged to monitor their children’s online activity, have an open dialogue with their children, guide them and earn their children’s trust,” Daraghmeh noted. 

Draghmeh added that parents are also urged to download parental control applications on their children’s smart devices.