In recent years, use of technology and the internet by kids and teens has grown exponentially. With this growth has come some incredible benefits and some risk that needs to be recognized and managed. Across the board, we have never had more access to a wider breadth of information than we do at this time. Google, ChatGPT, and social media open up our world in a way that is unprecedented, and that can absolutely be used for good. Even so, when working with or raising kids, it’s important to be mindful of the ways that the internet can be harmful so that we can be proactive in helping foster a healthy relationship with being online from a young age.
According to a report by Common Sense Media in 2021, on average, children between the ages of 8 and 12 spent 5 hours and 33 minutes online daily and teens between the ages of 13 and 18 spent 8 hours and 39 minutes online daily. During this time, they might be accessing platforms. As caregivers, it can feel impossible to keep track of every website or app that your kids are using to access or share information. Some kids may even know how to use a private browser in order to hide information from their caregivers. One of the risks associated with a large amount of unsupervised internet use is that some kids and teens might be exposed to information that may not be appropriate for their age or developmental level. This could include information on controversial current events, natural disasters, community violence, inappropriate sexual content and harmful ideologies, including hate speech, the glorification of eating disorders and strict body image standards, racism, and a myriad of other issues.
One example of such a community is the pro-ana movement online, which promotes eating and lifestyle behaviors linked to anorexia across many platforms. In some of these communities, people online will give or ask for advice on losing weight, seek or post inspirational photos of individuals with anorexia (thinspiration), and encourage others to stick with their weight loss no matter the cost. A reinforcing community around dangerous behaviors can make it much harder for a teen to separate from their habits and ideas, since many voices around them are experiencing, promoting, and glorifying the same illness as they are.
The unfortunate truth is that there are communities online that will perpetuate beliefs, or misinformation, that may not align with your family values, and kids and teens might stumble across them. This is true of existing in the real world too, but exposure over the internet to these harmful ideas may limit the opportunity for parental guidance and support in processing the content.
Internet activity can also provide avenues for harmful interpersonal interactions due to its allowance for easy contact from strangers, through things like social media direct messages, and messaging forums on discussion platforms. The nature of internet use allows users to stay anonymous if they choose to, or to “catfish” with a fabricated identity. Contacting strangers over the internet could open the door for predators to target children and teens for online grooming or sex trafficking. Online contact can also enable cyberbullying, whether the person contacting the child over the internet is a stranger or not. A lack of supervision on the internet can make bullying that once was confined to school or social situations permeate into every corner of life for a child.
Moreover, social media presents a complicated issue for all users because of its addictive algorithms. Social media is designed to keep the attention of the user, and to feed the user content that they will engage with. This can lead to feeling addicted to social media apps and increased usage over time. Caregivers often struggle with their children to set limits around internet and social media use, for many users of social media, limiting access to the platforms can feel like deprivation.
As a result of constant use of social media and the internet, children and teens can also experience negative health impacts. Research has identified that overuse of digital media can increase the risk of obesity due to the tendency to live a more sedentary life, with less physical activity than peers. We also know that screen usage can cause sleep issues, because of more time spent on screens and the impact of blue light on the sleep cycle. For young children, there is a risk of delayed development when exposed to too much digital media, which is thought to be a result of less time spent interacting with people. The health impacts are mental as well as physical. An advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General highlighted that excessive social media use contributes to increases in anxiety, dissatisfaction with bodies, depression, disordered eating, and low self-esteem.
To put these risks into context, we can look at some data from the Bark Report in 2023, which analyses child and teen online activity. The report identified that 58% of tweens and 75% of teens encountered content of a sexual nature or nudity, 8% of tweens and 10% of teens were engaged in a conversation with someone significantly older that took on a sexual nature, and 68% of tweens and 86% of teens were exposed to violent content ranging from graphic video games to experiencing direct threats to their own safety. The report also identified that 9% of tweens and 21% of teens came across mentions of disordered eating including dangerous dietary practices and explicit content about eating disorders, 67% of tweens and 76% of teens have experienced some form of bullying including mean spirited teasing to hateful threats.
While these risks are real and important, this doesn’t mean that the internet and social media can’t also be beneficial at times. Many kids and teens see benefits from accessing social connections and feelings of community with others who share identities, abilities, and specific interests in avenues that may not be available to them in their in-person, day to day lives. In addition, when social media and the internet are used appropriately, they can be wonderful tools for learning and continuing to develop interests. Our blog post, A Tech Based World: The Risks and Benefits of Social Media and Screentime explores this idea further.
It can feel like the internet is a world that functions largely outside of the control of caregivers, and that can be true in some ways. But caregivers can make efforts to buffer these risks in many ways, and thankfully, the responsibility is not fully on parents to provide safeguards for children. In our next blog, we will be discussing the ways in which caregivers and institutions can each play roles in protecting children and teens from the harmful aspects of the internet while promoting healthy use of the resource.