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

Ms Alexandra Hansen

writer

Ms Alexandra Hansen

Chief of Staff, The Conversation

Claim CPD for this activity

Educational Activities (EA)

0 hours

These are activities that expand general practice knowledge, skills and attitudes, related to your scope of practice.

Reviewing Performance (RP)

0 hours

These are activities that require reflection on feedback about your work.

Measuring Outcomes (MO)

0 hours

These are activities that use your work data to ensure quality results.

EA
0 minutes

These are activities that expand general practice knowledge, skills and attitudes, related to your scope of practice.

RP
0 minutes

These are activities that require reflection on feedback about your work.

MO
0 minutes

These are activities that use your work data to ensure quality results.

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
Prof Brendon Yee

Prof Brendon Yee

Obstructive Sleep Apnoea & Driving: The GP's Role

Dr Terri Foran

Dr Terri Foran

Non-Hormonal & Hormonal Options for Hot Flushes

Dr Adam Nelson

Dr Adam Nelson

Why is LDL Control Important?

Dr Anita Munoz

Dr Anita Munoz

Muscle Health in Chronic Disease: A Practical Guide for GPs

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

"I am concerned about disrupted continuity of care for patients that use 1800Medicare"

Strongly agree

0%

Slightly agree

0%

slightly disagree

0%

strongly disagree

0%

Recent podcasts

Listen to expert interviews.
Click to open in a new tab

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.

Menopause and MHT

Multiple sclerosis vs antibody disease

Using SGLT2 to reduce cardiovascular death in T2D

Peripheral arterial disease