According to a New York Times Upfront debate article with Betsy Landers and Jeffrey Nadel, there are pros and cons to the extent of how parents should monitor their children online. Parents tend to place technology in their children’s hands without knowing the power they possess to post what they please without thinking of the consequences they may have. Betsy Landers says that parents monitoring their “children’s activities via technology are not crossing the line into invasion of privacy; they are cyber-savvy and protecting their kids.” This is very true, because if parents weren’t to monitor their children online, who knows what information and content they post can have a negative effect to not only themselves, but to others.
Similarly, in a Pennlive web article by Eric Veronikis, which talks about the statistics of cyber bullying, says “more than half of young people surveyed say that they never confide in their parents when cyber bullying happens to them”. This phrase goes hand in hand in what Betsy Landers was trying to suggest. Additionally, “Only one out of six parents of adolescents and teens are even aware of the scope and intensity involved with cyber bullying.” This illustrates how not only parents must not only monitor what children post, but to also be aware of the intensity cyber bullying can have. Cyber bullying is one of the most common types of bullying and “25 percent of teenagers report” of having being cyber bullied. However, most of the people who are being cyber bullied tend to not report it because of the social and psychological effect it may have caused.
In addition to the topic of cyber bullying, an article from Family Practice News, the information that they provide is very similar to the examples of some of the statistical data from the Pennlive web article. For example, both sources talk about how “boys tend to be more…aggressive—than girls”. Moreover, in similarity with the New York Times Upfront article, in the end of the Family Practice News article, it reasserts how in order to prevent bullying, “a successful intervention involves parents”. This goes accordingly to what Betsy Landers, who discusses the need of monitoring, has to say. By adolescents being exposed to cyber bullying and its effects, the more this problem persists, the more effect it has on their psychological development.
The last effect negative effect that the Internet has on adolescents is the psychological issue of depression. The framework of the Internet causing depression is simple. A picture or rumor is spread through social media, this then results to anonymous and continuous cyber bullying, then the victim is at their lowest point, which sadly leads to depression. According to a web article from Psychcentral written by Kelsey Sunstrum., a friend of hers “deleted her Instagram because she felt herself becoming depressed by it”. Kelsey goes off on how social media sets a type of standard to a common teenager, especially a girl. This standard that Instagram poses on teenaged girls is being able to “[wear] the right outfit”, use the correct filter, and have a certain body, without having too much pressure placed on them from others. “We are conditioned to project only our best”, says Sunstrum. This is true for social media because of the standard it sets on one’s “digital identity”. With trying to fit in in social media and having to mold a perfect digital identity, what then happens to your “’real’ self”? Sunstrum calls it “smiling depression”, a type of depression that creates a façade showing how everything is okay, but deep inside, isn’t. This façade is merely showing a happy face and trying to hide that nothing is going on truly in their lives.
In comparison to Kelsey’s Sunstrum article on social media causing depression, an article focusing on the impact of computer use on adolescents by Kaveri Subrahmanyam, talks about how the “greater use of the Internet” shows social and psychological declines in “social involvement”. To summarize, by adolescents over excessively using the Internet and computer, there are significant effects in how it can impact their social life. Such as, loneliness and depression. However, in contrast in the same article, it may be possible that other principles may be responsible for their psychological decline.
Overall, all of these sources pose great positions in aiding the topic of the effects on adolescents using the Internet without the monitoring of their parents. However, there is one thing that lacks from most of the sources, which is the relativity of using the Internet causing depression. Depression is a very serious issue because it can lead to suicide and a decline is social activeness. The reason behind this is that there isn’t enough evidence to support definitely that the use of solely the Internet causes depression. It is just mere observation and hypothetical and has not been theorized. Although there is evidence in cause of depression when the user is on social media and being cyber bullied, which is why some of these sources with the statistical data they provide, show the increase of depression alongside the rise and use of the Internet.
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Works Cited
Landers, Betsy, and Jeffrey Nadel. "Is it ok for parents to monitor their kids online? It's tricky balancing privacy and safety in a digital world." New York Times Upfront 1 Apr. 2013: 23. General OneFile. Web. 3 Feb. 2015.
Patricia Greenfield, Elisheva Gross, Subrahmanyam, Kaveri, and Robert Kraut. "The Impact of Computer Use on Children's and Adolescents' Development."Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 22.1 (2001): 7-30. Applied Developmental Pyschology, 2001. Web. 3 Feb. 2015.
Splete, Heidi. "Technology can extend the reach of a bully: cyber bullying by girls, who 'share so much ... when they are friends,' can be particularly devastating." Family Practice News 15 June 2005: 31. General OneFile. Web. 3 Feb. 2015.
Sunstrum, Kelsey. "How Social Media Affects Our Self-Perception." Psych Central.com. World of Psychology, 13 Mar. 2014. Web. 3 Feb. 2015.
Veronikis, Eric. "Cyberbullying Leaves Staggering Statistics in Its Wake."PennLive.com. The Patriot-News, 18 Apr. 2014. Web. 3 Feb. 2015.