Excerpt

Negative Effects of Social Media on Young Minds

While social media can be an easy, wonderful way to keep in touch with friends, a means of support and a window into what’s going on in the world, there are downsides for kids of which parents need to be aware. Here is a snapshot of a few of the negative effects: 1. Promotes Addiction According to a 2016 survey from Common Sense Media, half of the teens surveyed felt addicted to their smartphones; 78 percent checked their devices at least hourly. In 2015, a Pew Research report found that 73 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds not only had access to a smartphone, but 24 percent reported that they were online “almost constantly.” This is not surprising, given a project conducted by researchers at UCLA. During their study, they scanned the brains of a few dozen adolescents as they watched what looked like an Instagram feed. When teens saw that their own pictures had received lots of “Likes”, they showed a greater activation in an area of the brain called the nucleus accumbens, part of the brain's reward circuitry and one that’s particularly sensitive during adolescence. It’s easy to see how this vulnerable age group – easily influenced by what others think – would crave approval on social media............