A social issue is a problem that affects a lot of people. Teens face unique societal difficulties. You may remember some from when you were young. The internet has helped solve some problems, but it has also caused or made others worse. In this post, I’ll talk about the problems teens have making friends in the Internet age.
Teenagers are more likely than adults to worry about other people because their minds and bodies are still changing. As a parent, it’s important to know what they are and help your teen deal with them. After I talk about each social problem facing teens, I’ll tell you how to avoid them.
Cyberbullying
Bullies pick on kids all the time. You can blame human nature on the time when people were not yet civilized and needed to be better than others to stay alive. No matter what the reason, if family and society don’t teach kids how to live in a civilized way, they’ll go back to living in caves.
Cyberbullies don’t hurt their victims physically, but instead use the internet and other digital technologies to hurt them. The attackers don’t touch their victims, but the damage to their minds can last for a long time.
Read “The Effects of Cyberbullying on Children” on our blog to learn more. See “What to Do When Your Child Is Cyberbullied?” for what to do if this happens to your child.
Help, child?
Make friends with your teen to stop them from being bullied online. Your child should feel safe talking to you about threats from other kids.
Second, teach your child how to be safe online. When it comes to social media and messaging apps, kids can sometimes be careless. Show them how to keep their accounts private and what they can share.
Our blog post “Critical Social Media Etiquette and Rules for Kids” has more ideas for keeping your child safe online.
Crisis
Parents tend to overlook teens’ existential crises. As kids grow, they start to face philosophical problems. “What happens after we die?” is a natural question for them to have. “How can I enjoy life when everything is crazy?”
Many parents think that children who ask such questions are sad. Some people blame books or the Internet. It could be the opposite! Maybe a sad child has questions about the meaning of life. Maybe they looked online for answers about philosophy.
Unanswered questions about the meaning of life can hurt young people, hen or egg. They can cause people to be unhappy, do poorly in school, and feel sad.
Help, child?
What would you tell your child if he or she asked why you had them? Can they help their kids with questions about life and death? Most parents aren’t. Not all adults know these answers. You need to understand philosophy if you want to be a good teacher and parent to your child. There are blog posts and podcasts on “Philosophy for Parents” about how to be a philosophical parent.
If you don’t know how to help your teen with existential problems, you should talk to a therapist.
Body shaming and low self-esteem
People need social media to connect with each other, share ideas, and stay up-to-date, but they seem to hurt teens’ self-esteem. People send in pictures and videos of themselves in different clothes and places. A teen who looks at social media posts might think that other people are happier, prettier, and more successful than they are.
Teenagers may feel like they have to show off their best photos and videos to keep up with their peers. This issue makes kids feel like they have to always look good. If they can’t keep up, they may feel unhappy or not good enough, which can lead to low self-esteem and making fun of their bodies.
Friends on social media aren’t always bad. There are bad role models on social media sites. There are a lot of pictures and movies of models with distorted faces and bodies. Many of them look good because they’ve had surgery or put on a lot of makeup. These people can change how bodies look. When teens look at these people, they might feel bad about how they look naturally and want to get dangerous cosmetic surgery.
Help, child?
Teach your child as early as possible to like themselves and how they look. Your kids care what you think. You should always be proud of your kids’ skills and qualities. Remind them that they’re pretty. Be careful about praise. Instead of admiring useless traits, look up to those that last. More than a girl’s dimples, her math skills are more important to her life, school, and job. Math smarts are more impressive than dimples.
How parents and other family members act has an effect on how kids see the world. You’re your child’s role model. If you care more about how you look than how you look, you shouldn’t be surprised if your teen does the same.
Parents can’t always fix their kids’ self-esteem and how they feel about their bodies on their own. If so, you should see a therapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist.
Should I stop my kid from using social media?
It’s not a good idea to keep kids away from social media to keep them from getting hurt, but you can use programs like Safes to keep them safe. Most social networking sites don’t let people under the age of 13 join, but they don’t check ages. This means that kids who are younger can join social media. Safes’s App Blocker and Web Filter can block your child’s devices from using social media apps and websites.
Brainwashing & Propaganda
The teen years are hard. Youth can be overwhelmed by strong ideas. Teens’ personal troubles can fuel radicalization. Reasons why young people become radicalized:
- Self-doubt and being unhappy
- Assault
- Being alone, feeling like you belong
- Sexual, racial, and cultural prejudice
- Depression
Discontent with the government and with society
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When kids watch adult content online, it can give them radical ideas. Others use the fact that kids are weak to turn them into radicals.
Extremism on the Internet is common. Even though most social networks block harmful actions, extremist channels, groups, and sites can still get through without being checked. Moderators sometimes take them down too late.
Even though most people think so, not all extremist actions are illegal. Some have TV networks, websites, and social media accounts.
Extreme beliefs can lead to destruction, bullying, violence, and even death.
Please Help!
To keep your child from becoming radicalized, keep an eye on how they act and who and what they follow online and in real life. With help and advice on time, harmful beliefs can be stopped. If you can’t help your child, you should find someone who can.
With the Safes parental control app, you can watch and limit what your child does online. Safes keeps track of your child’s apps and websites. It also lets you know if they post anything questionable on social media. You can block social media and websites that aren’t safe for kids.
Teens’ social problems related to the Internet
In the Internet age, kids face more social problems than just these ones. Other things that parents should know about:
- Young Thieves
- Depression/suicide
- False examples
- Finance
- Violence
- Watching
- Obesity
- Sex Risk
- Racism
- Misogyny, homophobia
- Addiction
- Concerns about education
Summary
Teenagers have more problems with other people than adults do. We’ll talk about the problems teens have making friends in the digital age.
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