Social Media and Teenagers: 5 Useful Tips for Parents to Guide the Teenagers in Using the Social Media.

19/06/2023 by Archita De

Social Media and Teenagers- Tips for Parents

Social Media and Teenagers- both are now the inseparable parts; several surveys suggest that more than 90 percent of teenagers use social media. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat etc. social media platforms are the happiest place of all the teenagers and they cannot imagine their life without social media. Though we are living in the age of modern technology and science- living in the online era and the use of mobile phones, internet is common to all and our teenagers are not excluded from it. Internet, social media are not bad for the teenagers if they use it constructively.

Why Parental Guidance is Needed to Use Social Media?

Social Media and Teenagers – here Parental Guidance is most useful. Teenagers can use the social media platforms to express themselves, to acquire knowledge and to get the scope of different types of works to do. Use of social media also helps the teens to be connected with others and make friends. But it also makes the teenagers the victim of online bullying, cyber-crimes and various mental health disorders like anxiety, stress, sadness, depression, inferiority complex etc. So, here the parents should guide the teenagers regarding the use of social media with all of its pros and cons.

Social Media and Teenagers- Tips for Parents to Guide Teenagers

Teenage, the adolescent period is the most challenging time of life because this is the transition period from childhood to adulthood. During this period of teenage, several hormones are secreted in the body due to the rapid physical changes of adolescence and also several psychological changes are seen due to the secretion of hormones and others. Mood swings, irritability, emotional outbursts are common to most of them and that’s why the parents should make them aware about both positive and negative effects of using social media. To be sensitive to Social Media and Teenagers, the parents can follow the following tips to guide their teenagers.

Be Friendly with Teenagers

The style of parenting during the teenage should be different from that of childhood, here the parents need to make a friendship with their teenagers so that they can be able to know what the teens are doing, how they are using the social media, are they facing any issues in those social media platforms etc. If the parents are friendly to teenagers, the teens will surely share their issues with parents but never share with the strict parents. The parents can also send friend request to their adolescent boy or girl in Facebook or Instagram, and both can share their opinion about the current issues.

Talk Openly about Bad Effects of Social Media

To ensure the online safety of the teenagers, the parents should talk openly with them about the negative effects of social media, why ‘Social media and Teenagers’ is the most sensitive topic, what are the precautions to follow to use the social media, how can the teenagers take help for any kind of online bullying etc. This type of open ” talk’ between parents and adolescents regarding the use of social media is really beneficial for them to protect themselves from any kind of online harassment.

Spend Quality Time with Teenagers

In most of the cases, the teenagers are addicted to social media due to their loneliness, lack of time of parents or lack of communication between the parents and children. Here the social media platforms attracts the teenagers to be connected with the friends- may be virtual friends and be happy. The little communication between the parents and teenagers cannot give them the scope to express themselves but those social media platforms give them the scope to express them, to explore and also to create.

So the parents must make a habit of spending quality time with their teenagers- talk about their favorite topics, current issues and may be also on Social Media and Teenagers; go for a walk regularly or play any games together or simply show a movie together or listen to some good music. Spending quality time with children always form a strong bond with them and it lessen the chances of social media addiction.

Be a Role Model in Using Social Media

If you as a parent want to work on the issue the Social media and Teenagers, at first you should cut down your social media uses, your attachment to social media platforms and thus be a role model for your teenagers so that they will be motivated by seeing you. But, if you are continuously using Facebook or twitter, after every 10 minutes updating your status or changing the profile photo; how can you expect that your children will be away from the social media platforms? So, first we, the parents need to be the Role Model for our teenagers.

Never Force to STOP the Use of Social Media

To be concern and careful about Social media and Teenagers, never force your teenagers to stop the use of social media platforms but make them aware about the both merits and demerits of using social media. Discuss with the teenagers about the traps of social media and the ways to choose to protect themselves from any kind online bullying. Also advice them to use social media for a limited time period and not to be addicted to it. Both the parents and teenagers can together make a list of some do’s and don’ts regarding the use of social media through mutual discussion.

Here if the parents use the punishment, force or spanking for using the social media, the teenagers may take the help of ‘Lie’ and may cheat the parents. So to resolve the issue of social media and teenagers, the parents should be empathetic and friendly towards their teenagers.

Words from Wingsofwishes.in

The ‘Social Media and Teenagers’ is the most burning issue of the society through out the glove. More and more people are using internet now- more and more teenagers are using social media. And it is also the fact that we cannot stop using the social media in this age of extreme digitalization as it displays the new trends and opportunities of education, inventions, technologies and others. Only the parents need to guide the teenagers in proper use of social media and also to protect themselves from cyber attacks and thus they can resolve the issue “Social Media and Teenagers”.