Mental Effects of Social Media, Essay Example

The relationship between mental health and social media is intricate and dynamic. It has a fair share of advantages and disadvantages, depending on how individuals use these social media platforms. Although experts such as psychologists have conducted a myriad of research about this relationship, its understanding remains limited. On this matter, even parents fall into the trap, and they are the ones that influence their children into inappropriate use of social media. In return, this has led to negative mental health consequences. Research shows that social media nature reinforces that individuals do not know the possible outcome of their mental health. For instance, at one moment, social media use may activate the release of the dopamine hormone, which is the brain’s reward center. But then, at the other moment, the platforms could course depression and anxiety.

It seems absurd that parents regularly use these platforms on their children, resulting in their mental distress.  Parents must understand that they are their children’s biggest influencers. Thus they must show tender love and care to their children rather than continually gazing at their phones.  This smartphone’s attention drives a message that digital gadgets are crucial to one’s life.  Furthermore, having a child and a smartphone shows that there are high chances that you are sharenting. Conducted research shows that a significant percentage of toddlers in the United States grow while already having social media platforms. This phenomenon is clearly on the rise, and it has no signs of slowing down.

UNICEF, an organization concerned with advocacy of international children, has released statements about reckless sharenting. The organization shows that sharenting effects on the psychological welfare and safety of the child are profound. Furthermore, this also affects the child’s privacy, especially later in life and their ability to be digitally erased. Parents do not recognize the potential dangers of sharing their children’s identities on social media. Some of the involved harms include; tampering with children’s privacy, identity theft, and sharing embarrassing information, affecting them psychologically later in life.

Statistics show that one out of every four children in the united states felt sad, worried, anxious, or embarrassed from their parents’ sharenting actions. Research shows that the drive to parents sharenting is governed by the need for approval, fame, or profit. On this matter, influencers make large amounts of income on social media platforms. Nevertheless, different countries have different perceptions of sharenting. For example, in the UK, some parents feel motivated to share their children’s affairs online, while others consider it essential to keep their children’s matters private. In France, sharing children’s private content online might get you in jail. In Australia, a woman recently sued her parents for leaking her private content online, which was embarrassing and psychologically disturbing. On the other hand, in America, responsible stakeholders treat this issue with jaded eyes.

Psychologists say that it is illogic; children try to talk sense to their sharenting parents instead of the other way around. Irrespective of the stance guardians have on this issue; they need to be incredibly careful about what they teach their children. Additionally, they need to be mindful of; who, why, and what information they want to share. Unquestionably your action and intent are controlled by whatever thing captures your attention. Therefore, this results in an earlier impact on children’s mental health due to social media’s premature use. Indeed, social media puts a distorted appearance on what reality looks like. Platforms such as Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram, increase unrealistic perceptions of people. In conclusion, social media platforms have positivity, such as enhancing individuals’ contact with friends and families worldwide. However, if individuals are not careful, the platform’s adverse effects could be catastrophic since they outweigh these advantages by a significant margin.