Social media addiction and young people’s emotional well-being

– concluding part
Last week we presented the case of a 13-year-old secondary school adolescent girl, who was having difficulties with controlling her social media use, thereby causing her attendant negative consequences with her academic performance and interpersonal relationships.

Her mother subsequently confiscated the phone but Tope resolved to continue to neglect her school work as an act of defiance. She was sure that her parents would eventually back down and release her phone to her again. We also discussed how obsessive social media usage may become an addiction with all the features of drug addiction.

Commentary

It is clear that there were errors in the handling of the case of Tope, the 13-year-old adolescent and her use of social media over the phone. Increasingly, schools are becoming very tech savvy and it is becoming increasingly common for children and adolescents to be very exposed to tech gadgets at a very young age.

This is not altogether a bad thing. What is pertinent to note, is that children and adolescents lack the capacity to always make rational and logical decisions. They are more likely to be impulsive and would struggle to delay gratification…in the presence of temptations and distractions with relatively easy and pleasurable activities.

Thus, parents, teachers and adult caregivers need to impose guidelines and restrictions that are considerate but firmly adhered to.

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For instance, children and adolescents should not have unlimited access to their phones to the extent that their school work suffers, they stop doing their homework, sleep very late and are sleepy in class. All of these features were present with Tope, who was usually on the phone until 11pm or midnight in some instances.

Children and adolescents thrive best with some structure and predictability. So, it is best for them to have regular study times, bed times, and possibly gain access to their phones for a specified period of time, say between 6pm and 8pm on weekdays for example.

This access can be linked to successful and satisfactory completion of homework and study schedule. Phones are subsequently handed in at 8 pm and between 8pm till bed time is family time. To accomplish this, parents will also need to put away their phones at 8pm and be available to interact and spend quality time with them…as to do otherwise will be hypocritical.

Many parents are likely to say that they are adults, and their late use of the phone is work related. But it is very helpful when there is uniform compliance and consistency. Face to face family time and interactions are very useful and should not be treated with disdain.

 Current challenges of children and young persons

The statistics show that one in every five children and young persons (20 per cent) suffer from a mental disorder at any point in time. Among young persons between the ages of 15 and 29 years, suicide is the second leading cause of death.

Other challenges include bullying with a report from the USA, indicating that 83 per cent of young persons reported that they had experienced bullying in one form or the other in the preceding year. Bullying is especially more pervasive these days in the form of relentless cyberbullying from which there appears to be no escape….and they see the harsh, denigrating comments every time they come online.

Other common challenges include social isolation and reduced family interactions; identity crisis as they transition into adulthood; low self esteem concerns; onset of dating and relationship difficulties. We also need to keep in view that most serious mental disorders often have their onset in adolescence and young adulthood (depression, schizophrenia, experimenting with drug abuse etc).

Thus, it is a sensitive and critical phase of human development that requires careful nurturing and support to prevent stressors that may result in the development of mental health problems. These challenges and how they may be compensated for, with social media; and the attendant mental health consequences are outlined as an illustration, in the table.