Written by Modenie
Social media, which can include websites and applications, is popular among all groups of people, especially adolescents. It was found that half of US adolescents were online constantly in 2018 and most of them were girls (Wallace, 2021). These adolescents often use applications such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube for social networking. According to Wallace (2021), when children use social media too much, they can have poor mental health and relationships while sharing and posting a lot and may involve in risky behaviors. In addition, there’s a great correlation with depression, loneliness, bullying, peer pressure, and anxiety when social media is used by individuals who are between 13 and 24 years old (Wallace, 2021).
Parental monitoring is a way to protect children online or in their communities to prevent any risky behaviors. For example, once a family set clear rules and expectations, teens choose fewer delinquent friends which can reduce violence exposure and substance use (Wallace, 2021). Rule setting is necessary in every household and children will know the consequences prior to their negative behaviors. Parental monitoring is good to have because it was reported that 40% of students have accepted friend requests from strangers online (Wallace, 2021). While it is beneficial to monitor children online, over monitoring can also be problematic because adolescents might see it as a psychological way to control them and may see it as being intrusive (Wallace, 2021).
When it comes to gender roles, mothers were more likely to talk about online behavior and use consequences for breaking the rules compared to fathers (Wallace, 2021). When monitoring their children, mothers use tracking apps than fathers and it was noted that boys were less monitored online than girls (Wallace, 2021). Monitoring is important as children are not mature enough to deal with social media. Parents should not constantly monitor a child’s activity online to create trust unless they child is already involved in risky behaviors, but random checkups are ok to do. In addition, time limits are also important to prevent younger children from spending most of their time online.
Wallace, L. (2021). Differences in Social Media Monitoring Practices Based on Child and Parent Gender. Family Relations, 70, 412–1426. https://doi.org. 10.1111/fare.12568