Is social media damaging to children and teens? We asked five experts

Ms Alexandra Hansen

writer

Ms Alexandra Hansen

Chief of Staff, The Conversation

Ms Alexandra Hansen

If you have kids, chances are you’ve worried about their presence on social media.

Who are they talking to? What are they posting? Are they being bullied? Do they spend too much time on it? Do they realise their friends’ lives aren’t as good as they look on Instagram?

We asked five experts if social media is damaging to children and teens.

Four out of five experts said yes

The four experts who ultimately found social media is damaging said so for its negative effects on mental health, disturbances to sleep, cyberbullying, comparing themselves with others, privacy concerns, and body image.

However, they also conceded it can have positive effects in connecting young people with others, and living without it might even be more ostracising.

The dissident voice said it’s not social media itself that’s damaging, but how it’s used.

PASSWORD RESET

Forgot your password or password not working? Please enter your email address. You will receive an email with the link to set a new password.

Icon 2

NEXT LIVE Webcast

:
Days
:
Hours
:
Minutes
Seconds
A/Prof Li-Chuen Wong

A/Prof Li-Chuen Wong

Eczema Practical Updates for General Practice

Dr Preeti Joshi

Dr Preeti Joshi

Cow’s Milk Allergy in Infants and Children

A/Prof Michael Woodward AM

A/Prof Michael Woodward AM

RSV Vaccine on the NIP – What You Need to Know

A/Prof Adrian Mar

A/Prof Adrian Mar

Vitiligo – Early Detection and Early Treatment

Join us for the next free webcast for GPs and healthcare professionals

High quality lectures delivered by leading independent experts

Share this

Share this

Ms Alexandra Hansen

writer

Ms Alexandra Hansen

Chief of Staff, The Conversation

Test your knowledge

Recent articles

Latest GP poll

Mark Butler says 50% of practices are now bulk billing. To what extent does this match with your observation within the profession?

Overestimated

0%

Accurate

0%

Technically accurate but misleading

0%

Underestimated

0%

Find your area of interest

Once you confirm you’ve read this article you can complete a Patient Case Review to earn 0.5 hours CPD in the Reviewing Performance (RP) category.

Select ‘Confirm & learn‘ when you have read this article in its entirety and you will be taken to begin your Patient Case Review.

Upcoming Healthed Webcast

Eczema Practical Updates for General Practice

Tuesday 12th May, 7pm - 9pm AEST

Speaker

A/Prof Li-Chuen Wong

Consultant Dermatologist; Senior Specialist Visiting Medical Officer, Head, Dermatology Department, Children's Hospital at Westmead

In this talk, Associate Professor Li-Chuen Wong will outline a practical, structured approach to managing these patients. We invite you to join the next Healthed webcast.