Using social media becomes a risk to adolescents more often
than most adults realize. Most risks fall into the following
categories:
peer-to-peer; inappropriate content; lack of
understanding of online privacy issues; and outside influences of
third-party
advertising groups.
Cyberbullying and Online Harassment
Cyberbullying is deliberately using digital media to communicate false, embarrassing, or hostile information about another
person. It is the most common online risk for all teens and is a peer-to-peer risk.
Although “online harassment” is often used interchangeably with the term “cyberbullying,” it is actually a different entity.
Current data suggest that online harassment is not as common as offline harassment,and participation in social networking sites does not put most children at risk of online harassment. On the other hand, cyberbullying is quite common, can occur to any young person online, and can cause profound psychosocial
outcomes including depression, anxiety, severe isolation, and, tragically, suicide.
Sexting
Sexting can be defined as “sending, receiving, or forwarding sexually explicit messages, photographs, or images via cell phone,
computer, or other digital devices.”
Many of these images become distributed rapidly via cell phones or the
Internet. This phenomenon does occur among the teen
population; a recent survey revealed that 20% of
teens have sent or posted nude or seminude photographs or videos of
themselves. Some teens who have engaged in sexting have been threatened or charged with felony child pornography charges, although some
states have started characterizing such behaviors as juvenile-law misdemeanors.Additional consequences include school suspension for perpetrators and
emotional distress with accompanying mental health
conditions for victims. In many circumstances,
however, the sexting incident is not shared beyond a small peer group or
a
couple and is not found to be distressing at
all.
Facebook Depression
Researchers have proposed a new
phenomenon called “Facebook depression,” defined as depression that
develops when preteens
and teens spend a great deal of time on social
media sites, such as Facebook, and then begin to exhibit classic
symptoms of
depression.
Acceptance by and contact with peers is an important element of
adolescent life. The intensity of the online world is thought
to be a factor that may trigger depression in
some adolescents. As with offline depression, preadolescents and
adolescents
who suffer from Facebook depression are at risk
for social isolation and sometimes turn to risky Internet sites and
blogs
for “help” that may promote substance abuse,
unsafe sexual practices, or aggressive or self-destructive behaviors.
No comments:
Post a Comment