- Jul 26, 2018
How to Check if your Teen is really Addicted to Social Media
According to CNN, ADHD symptoms is linked with use of digital media among teens. Teenagers are in development phase where their brain is constantly adapting to the outside stimuli and hence social media has an effect on mental health.
It's a tell tale sign that a teenager is addicted to the internet if they are constantly dependent upon these devices to get certain rewards. For eg, they feel a mental and emotional release when they get the most likes or get a top score on a game.
Today, young children are exposed to electronic media in the form of a tablet or smartphone by their parents. Parents often are not hesitant to buy a product since it has become cheaper and easily available. Since today's kids have seen their parents and everyone else using digital devices, they do not find it problematic to constantly use them.
Many teens create secret accounts so that parents cannot monitor what they are doing online. So, if a parent suspects that their children have a secret online account, they should level with them and understand why they require a secret account. Since there are many harmful things on the internet, parents need to make sure of the things that their children are doing online.
Teens have become habitual of using their phones every hour from when they wake up to when they go to sleep. Parents need to remind their kids of the experiences that cannot be found online and limit the time that they interact with these devices. If a teen's not able to perform at school or seems distracted at home, their phones can be suspected to be the cause of this. Since kids are the first generation to have grown up with smartphone and the anxiety that comes with it, they are likely to understand new social media apps sooner than their parents.
The bottom line is that any child can become addicted to social media apps, video games, or online presence. It is important to intervene and talk to them at the right time if you feel that they are behaving differently. If they are always fatigued, it can be due to late night texting or gaming, you need to restrict their usage of internet and tell them how seriously this can damage their mental health.
Read more at www.psychologytoday.com