I believe that the growth of technology has negatively influenced the social interactions of today’s youth because it isolates individuals from reality, hinders communication and brings immediate satisfaction. It has also enhanced all sorts of bullying. I can also state that technology is wonderful and I wouldn’t be posting this blog without it, but I was also an adult when all this growth took place, so I had my values in place. Today, kids are starting social media as toddlers and sadly, the iPad has become the babysitter so there are not rules or values put into place or even the slight understanding of what all this technology means.
I always wondered how differently life would have been growing up with technology. Staying outside until the street lights came on with our parents knowing we were somewhere in the neighborhood was a pretty normal thing. If a neighbor saw us getting into trouble, they were sure to get on the rotary phone and call our parents. There was no texting, parents weren’t calling to check on us and if someone got hurt, we just ran to the closest house.
Oh, the good old days, where social media didn’t even exist. There was no comparing your life to others by posting items. There was no issue on how many tweets you got, or how many likes on Instagram. Sexting didn’t exist, online bullying didn’t exist, on line dating wasn’t even a thought, or meeting friends on line, and cyber-bullying and sexting weren’t even words.
Is your child struggling with social media? Bullying? Self-esteem due to social media? I can help. Go to www.Beckyshafferliveinconfidence.com and sign up for your FREE 30 minute phone call so we can get started at making your child feel positive about life again.
Today, technology has taken over…..For example….I talked to one of my middle school students. He said “I have 452 friends, I talk to them every day….yet no one really knows me.” This thing called social media is anything but social. It’s people alone, looking at other lives, texting, wishing they looked as good as a peer on Instagram and wishing they had as many likes as others or as many followers on twitter or Facebook. It has become a game, but it has also become a dangerous game.
Picking up books has been traded for cell phones, iPads and play stations. Sitting in your living room with a room full of kids has become little and far in-between and emotions from social media are at an all-time high. Teens have never learned how to communicate with each other let alone prepare for the real world. Essays and research papers are now full of text language verses proper grammar. Our kids are given technology with parent rules, but do they truly understand that they are holding a time bomb of emotions waiting to explode in their hand? Whose job is this to teach them?
I recently had to set new rules in my home with devices. My son is allowed 30 minutes of device time and when he is done, it has to be plugged in, in my bedroom. I found he was up watching you tube and or Netflix all night. He was getting so addicted to playing games that homework wasn’t getting done and I lost track of the last time he actually sat and read a book. With my new rules, we are now putting together a large puzzle on our dining room table, and mandatory reading time has started in the evening. This is hard and I get it. I have to read as well, but I have to tell you, I am loving the time away from my work to help with this 8000 piece puzzle we are spending time putting together. We can talk and work together as a team with the goal of accomplishing something. I am just as guilty as all parents with all this technology our kids now have in their hands.
With cyberbullying at an all-time high we need to step up and know what our kids are doing on their devices. The effects of cyber bullying are just as serious as that of bullying done in person.
Technology has allowed teenagers to mock others, telling them to commit suicide, and make physical threats. With cyber bullying, it makes it easy for the bully to stay anonymous so many of the victims are completely unaware of the identity of the cyber bully or bullies. Things like these can spread and cause rumors and gossip. They take advantage of fake profiles to taunt on other students. When something is posted on the computer and Internet, it is usually accessible to anyone. So this makes the person being bullied humiliated because everyone can see it. Going to school can become difficult
Today, cell phones and devices are the key to our kid’s social life. They have become the key to adult’s social life as well if we are being honest. The Teens that I work with daily say texting has advantages over talking because it offers more options, including multitasking, speed, the option to avoid verbal communication, and because it is fun, but it is also hurtful, allows kids to say mean things to each other because there is no eye contact and cyber bullying is at an all-time high.
With more than 1 billion text messages sent each day, it is no surprise that many teens can text blindfolded. Teens have created a new form of communication.
A client I am currently working with got caught up in sexting with her boyfriend. Of course he forwarded these pictures and the law states that this is considered child pornography. They are very lucky that the local police department and parents worked with them, but the emotional damage to my client is already done.
As a parent, do you know what your kids are doing? Are you checking their phones? Limiting their time? Know every password? I believe that the growth of technology has negatively influenced the social interactions of today’s youth because it isolates individuals from reality, hinders communication and brings immediate satisfaction.
Is your child dealing with emotions of bullying, low self-esteem due to technology? Let’s talk. Schedule a FREE 30 minuet Live in Confidence session with me: www.BeckyShafferliveinconfidence.com
Becky Shaffer……Adolescent Life Coach
https://www.facebook.com/BeckyShafferCourage
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