Social Media: Things parents must know

New research is throwing a lot of light on the positive things that can happen when children share, connect, and learn through the internet. As a parent to a teenager, you can help cultivate the positive side by accepting the importance of social media for children and helping them in finding ways for it to create more value to their lives. Here are a few benefits of your children being social media-savvy:

It strengthens friendships. Most teens, especially the ones being homeschooled, feel that social media has helped their friendships, and makes them feel connected and social.

Sense of belonging. Social media makes teens feel less lonely and isolated. In fact, children tend to become more socially skilled, partly because of the increased technology use.  

It offers genuine support. Whether the child is interested in an uncommon subject that is not considered "cool" by teen standards – online support can validate a marginalized child. Apart from this, teens who are prone to suicide can get immediate access to support online. In fact, one instance occurred on Reddit when the whole online community made use of voice-conferencing software to change a teen’s mind on committing suicide.

It helps in expressing themselves. Both performers and producers can satisfy the desire for creative self-expression via social media. Digital technology helps young children to share their creativity and work with a bigger audience and even partner with far-flung artists. If they are persistent, social media can provide the platform and essential feedback for them to refine their craft.

It gives them a voice. Facebook, Twitter, and other big social networks expose children to serious issues and people from across the globe. Students realize they have a voice they did not have before and participate in crowd funding for those in need.

Gives a lot of exposure: Most teens, especially the ones undergoing homeschooling in Canada, live an extremely sheltered life. However, with exposure to different virtual media outlets, they develop awareness about different communities of the world. This political and cultural awareness is important if we wish to groom our children to become socially responsible. With e-magazines, social networking sites exposing world happenings, teenagers come to realize that there is a lot more going on around the world than what’s happening in their neighborhood.

Social media has a lot of influence on teens and can greatly impact every aspects of their life. However, all is not negative with the media. If used under supervision, social media can transform their lives for good.