We are living in the era of social media, with people believing in instant gratification. Internet and Social Media has changed the entire world in completely different way. It has made communication easier, learning and thinking instantly. Now we tend to believe in doing things smart way not the hard way. There are numerous advantages of social media in changing and influencing lives in positive way. However, it has brought negative impacts as well, and that on the young and teenagers.
Every teen have a smart phone in their pockets, with everything just a click away. They use social media while eating, drinking, and lying on the bed, walking to the school, and during the recess. It has not just only effected their communication, relationship with parents and siblings but also their mental health. Now, their lives revolve around scrolling through the Instagram feed, liking and sharing a funny video and commenting on friend’s last hangout pictures. They tend to know everything about a stranger on a social media platform but not a thing about a person right beside them. These may seem trivial things, but in wider perspectives have entirely damaged the lives and relationships.
Studies have shown that social media has affected teenage girls more than boys. The data record has shown the frequent use of social media affects teenage girls’ mental health more dramatically than that of boys.
Ways to Manage Teens’ Social Media Use
Identify Habits and Intentions
Speak to you teen and use a face-to-face conversation to ask about their intentions about social media. Are they using to communicate with friends or looking for romantic partners? Ask about the content they are posting. Do they want their social media content to have any impact on others? If yes, then what kind of impact they want it to have on others?
Identify their social media habits are well. Check their posts, and content they are sharing. Will it affect your teen in any way?
Discuss About the Language and Tone, and Importance of Right Words
Talk to you teen about the tone and language they are using on social media. How their words can affect people, their actions and behaviors. Right use of words can bring a positive change while using abusive and dirty slangs have bad impact on others. Also, discuss the short-term and long-term consequences of harmful and abusive languages.
Set Screen-time Limit
A proper way to manage your teen’s social media use is to set a screen-time limit. When your teen comes back from college, give them about a few minutes of social media time and set a limit.
You should restrict the use to mobile phones and social media before bed as it affects sleeping patterns.
Create Tech-free Zones
Create tech-free zones, where your teen is not allowed to use any phone or social media. What we see nowadays, is that teens are using are on their phones scrolling and chatting while eating, sitting with family, going out, during the commutes. Restrict the use by creating tech-free zones. Clear and firm boundaries should be set. Ask the teen to shut off phone before an hour to sleep and their phone chargers should be a distance from their beds.
Stick to the Rules
When you have created tech-free zones in the house and outside of the house/schools, make sure, you are abiding by the rules as well. You can force your teen to do something you are not doing. If you keep on using social media in places that are supposed to be tech-free for your teen, it will not work for longer terms.
However, to stick to the rules yourself, you have to bring mindfulness and positive. Encourage your teen to read more books, go to gym, work out, and implement those in your routine as well.
Bring Extracurricular Activities in your Life
To limit the use of social media and distract your teen from it, you have to bring extracurricular activities in your life.
Play their favorite games with them, and motivate them to do better.
Stop Cyberbullying before it happens
Cyberbullying is the definitely avoidable. Educate your teens about the risks of hostile and bullying behavior online. Educate them how they can influence their real lives drastically. Studies show that one in three children have been cyberbullied. About 70% of the children have bullied someone online. As it is becoming a growing problem among the teens and parents, parents should take some actions before it is too late.
Look for Changes in the Behavior of your Teen
The change in the behaviors of teens is evident. Your teen may suddenly change the way they behave. They become more reclusive or start using inappropriate language. They might start withdrawing from social activities or you might feel a complete change in their personality. Look for all the changes with open eyes.
Guide them on Reporting Bullying
Many schools and organizations have online portals to report bullying. Guide them about the websites and make sure they know where and how to report.
There are many strategies of guiding your teens and educating them on responding online. But the most important is, you should always talk to them by assessing their habits and unpacking their emotions.
