What effect is social media having on the youth amid ban proposals?

Social Media. Pictures from: Getty Images, Unsplash+

The Youth Sport Trust explained that statistically 99% of people between the ages of 16 to 25 use social media daily and 75% of children under the age of 12 have an account despite the fact they are not legally supposed to.

In November the secretary for technology announced the potential need for a social media ban for people under the age of 16 following similar plans proposed in Australia.

Social media can and has contributed to young people being exposed to particularly harmful content as well as influencing negative body issues and a significant rise in cyber bullying.

The office for national statistics estimated that 19% of young people experienced some form of cyber bullying just last year which can lead to them feeling isolated and suffering from mental distress.

These statistics beg the question, what is this doing to the developmental ability of young people?

Maintaining your social life online can cause young people to lack much needed social skills and can take a toll on how they interact in a social dynamic.

You are more likely to hold yourself back when engaging in face-to-face conversation as those core skills have been withheld.

We have seen a similar case with children who were at key social developmental ages during the pandemic.

Not having in person social interaction led to over half of parents stating that they believe their children's social and emotional skills worsened.

It is however not all negative, social media can give young people the option to embrace creativity and make new connections that they otherwise wouldn't have.

Having the means to self-expression and finding out who you are is a core part of growing up and social media can be a pathway for that.

For those that feel like they dot fit in, they can find communities that cater to what they like and find people just like them, something that they otherwise would not have been able to do.

While this issue is complex, perhaps a positive start is not a complete restriction but simply more regulation, management and encouraging young people to put their phones down for the day.