10 Reasons Pre-Teens Need Less Social Media
Here at Camp Kupugani, our multicultural overnight summer camp about two hours west of Chicago (and less than 90 minutes south of Madison, WI), our campers appreciate the importance of tech-free time. They do this while at camp (and hopefully carry the momentum) to apply this when they get home. There was a recent article from TODAY Parenting Team community discussing why middle schoolers don’t need social media. Check below for bullets and see the full article here!
- Social media was not designed for children.
- Snapchat, Instagram all were originally designed for adult use.
- You cannot teach the maturity that social media requires…
- NO matter how good of a parent you are…
- With age and more real world social interactions and experience comes knowledge of how to appropriately use social media.
- Social media is an entertainment technology.
- Kids need less technology-based entertainment.
- Kids need to be “bored”!
- Social media expertise neither makes your child smarter nor better prepared for real life or future employment.
- NO social media is designed to increase knowledge or job skills!
- A tween’s “more is better” mentality is a toxic blend with social media.
- Friends on social media are rarely true friends.
- Social status can be linked to the amount of “likes” on a given picture leading to distorted self-esteem.
- Social media is an addictive form of screen entertainment.
- Children are prone to addiction.
- Give them options that are better for them, like creative play or the arts.
- Social media replaces learning the hard social “work” necessary for success.
- Children see social media “stars” becoming famous in a short period of time and attribute to them an unearned, unrealistic sense of grandeur.
- Children lose valuable time practicing practical social skills face-to-face.
- Social media can cause teens to lose connection with family.
- More time is spent connecting with digital friends than actual family.
- Middle-schoolers need a family connection for greater well-being.
- Social media use represents lost potential for teens.
- They miss out on finding new things they may enjoy.
- Time is lost furthering other productive or creative skills.
- Do any of us wish we had started using social media earlier?
- Have any of us honestly said, “I wish social media was around when I was a kid”?
This post has been adapted from the TODAY Parenting Team community.