Children below 10 years old should not be given access to social media
(Position Paper)
Many parents are allowing their children to use their smartphones as smartphone technology
advances. Although it can seem to be harmless, the advantages of encouraging children to use
smartphones can be argued. Smartphones have the potential to affect a child's growth, especially in the
access to social media. The widespread communication network in today’s world has negative impact on
the lives of children in terms of violence, addiction and psychology. Social media should not be issued to
children below 10 years old because of the negative effects they have on their development.
People can access news, ideas, and photos with a single click. Furthermore, of all internet
communication channels, people spend a lot of time on social media. Nonetheless, if social media is not
used responsibly, it can have unwelcome consequences, especially for children. However, a popular
social media platform like YouTube is increasingly seen as the viewing platform of choice, particularly
among 8-11 years old. YouTube has a content particularly made for kids. In this way, children can
navigate more quickly to programs and content that they enjoy, that are targeted at them, and that are
specifically tailored to their hobbies and interests.
On the contrary, excessive exposure to YouTube videos reduces children's willingness to play
with other children. They will not make friends and their social skills will not improve. This is where the
social media has a negative effect on children comes from..As reported by the organization of Ofcom
(2020), parents are also increasingly concerned about their child seeing self-harm related content online
and some elements of online gaming. Almost half of parents of 5-15s are concerned about their child
seeing content which might encourage them to harm themselves, up from 39% in 2018. Through the use
of social media, violence and psychology are some of the negative effects of it. According to the point of
the article titled “Social media as a vector for youth violence,” the youth act relaxed when they are on the
internet. According to this article, there is a survey that investigates negative behavior in the cyber world,
and this survey proves that young girls are more vulnerable to sexual hazard when they are online.
Furthermore, gangs are present on the streets, but they do their work on the streets and on social media. In
the short term, frequent use of social media sites causes disorders. Furthermore, social psychologist
Festinger claims that there is a unidirectional upward drive in the social comparison process. Because of
gangs and the framework of social media, violence is taken to the street and into our homes through social
media. For a variety of reasons, a new form of abuse has emerged as a result of social media's
involvement in our lives
