NCT essay assessment 2

NEW COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES ASSESSMENT 2

Over the past century, an incredible amount of technological advances has been made. Even in just the past decade, technology and its uses have been incredibly expanded. Technology is ever evolving. There is always a newer version, or a newer invention that is better than anything seen before. Ipods, smartphones, laptops and computers are all constantly being improved, having more uses or being made more users friendly. Gaming systems and televisions now come with three-dimensional options. Applications such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr are used by millions of people around the globe. People are addicted, and use these items and applications daily. There are hundreds of new jobs that revolve around the idea of using social media for business or other aspects of companies. The rapid development of technology has changed the way humans as people communicate. The move of technology from analogue to digital has allowed users to be able to use more media aspects instantaneously, in turn creating the occurrence of ‘media multi tasking’ (Vandewater, E, Dennis, L 2011). Despite the positive effects that these features have given to people in both business and personal lives, the way children use and view technology has had many negative connotations, with people worried about the effects the technology is having on them. These ideas have founded numerous studies investigating the theory that frequent use of social media sites can lead to eating disorders, obesity and depression in children. 

The use of social media among children and adolescents is constantly increasing, and has become a common point of communication for these youths. Studies have shown that young people are now spending between 7 and 11 hours per day with a variety of different media- more time than they spend in school or sleeping (Strasburger, V, Jordan, A, Donnerstein, E). Over time the amount of time spent on these applications is estimated to increase even more. Part of the allure of these social networking sites is the fact that they are ever evolving. There is always something new for the children to see or play, or a new way to contact their friends. It is easy to see how the children spend so much time exploring this area of cyberspace. These young people follow the lead of their friends and peers, coping the newest crazes in technology, wanting the newest devices so that they feel accepted or ‘cool’. Recent studies have shown that between 2004 and 2009, cell phone ownership among the youth increased from 48% to a staggering 84% (Vandewater, E, Dennis, L 2011). This is a just under 40% increase over a short amount of time. Many children as young as four or five now have their own smart phones, and use many of the applications designed for teenagers and adults like the noted social networking sites. This begs the question, is this going too far?

It has been suspected that the frequent use of social media by today’s youths has impacted on many of the children’s mental health, impacting negatively on the young people in a way no other generation has had to deal with. The most common occurrence being ‘cyber bullying’, where people can abuse other people whenever they want without being face to face, and can sometimes do so anonymously. This can be just as seriously as bullying in person, and can mentally harm the person suffering the abuse. Numerous reports have shown that between 9% and 35% of young people have experienced electronic aggression (Strasburger, V, Jordan, A, Donnerstein, E). Cyber bullying has become a growing concern for adult members of the community, such as parents and teachers, after cases leading to depression and in some extreme cases, suicide. Despite the growing rate of cyber bullying, it has been reported that 90% of students do not tell their parents or other adults that they are being cyber bullied (Mark, L, Ratliffe, K 2011).

Another mental health issue that has been linked to social networking sites and technology is eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia. The youths are frequently exposed to sites showing thin models, or images of what they believe people should look like. There are many ‘pro-anorexia’ or ‘thin-spirtaion’ websites that can be viewed, with hundreds of pictures featuring airbrushed models with unrealistic bodies. The media may play a crucial role in the formation of young peoples self image, and may be responsible for unrealistic expectations (Strasburger, V, Jordan, A, Donnerstein, E). The children see pictures like this on any website and don’t understand or realize that it is an unrealistic depiction of how a person should be. They are not aware that no one, not even the people in the pictures, look like that, and their self-esteem begins to lower, leading them down the path of eating disorders, starving themselves in order to look like the people on the websites. Over the past few years the number of pro anorexia websites has drastically increased, and been thrust into further population with the use of blogging websites such as Tumblr using their images. This issue only seems to be getting worse, as the ‘thin-spiration’ ideals flow through applications on smart phones, or through Instagram accounts, and the images can be viewed with the click of a button at any time. A report on eating disorders has found that hospitalizations surged 119% between 1999 and 2006 for children younger than 12 (Strasburger, V, Jordan, A, Donnerstein, E). The children are getting younger, and the eating disorders more extreme, proving that while most social media effects attack the mind, this can lead to affecting the physical wellbeing of the young users.

Despite the mass opinion being that social media negatively effects children and teenagers health and well being, there are some arguments that support the use of these technologies in today’s youth. Academically, these websites and applications have the ability to help enhance the individual and collective creativity through development and sharing of artistic and musical endeavors (O'Keeffe, G, Clarke-Pearson, K 2011). Other arguments explore the idea of children using the Internet to find answers to questions they feel uncomfortable about asking family or friends about, like sex, illness or any other issue they might have. The idea of anonymity allows them to safely ask these questions to different websites without the fear of being judged or ostracized by the people in their lives. Socially, the media applications such as Facebook allow children and teenagers to share their lives with others, posting such things as pictures, videos or articles that they want people to see, and allows them to stay in contact with people who have moved away, be it to a different state, or a different continent. It is important to keep these positive aspects in mind when evaluating the effect of social media on today’s children and adolescents.

The development of ever changing technology and the way we use it has defiantly had an impact on the heath of children and teenagers of today, both mentally and physically. It has been calculated that the average youth of today spends between 7 and 11 hours on an array of media types, including social networking sites, games or television. The constantly evolving applications have created cult followings, with people easily becoming obsessed with apps such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram, with many people trading sleep for extra time on the applications. The accessibility of information through these websites allows children and teenagers to view content that can cause self-esteem issues leading to mental and physical health issues. Effects of these issues such as eating-disorders or depression comes down to exposure of unrealistic expectations or cyber bullying when the children’s minds are at their most vulnerable age. This can take a toll on their school performance and personality, but in extreme circumstances, the effects can be much worse. As new technologies arise, we are in a time when communication forms are fluctuating constantly. The debate of whether or not social media is having a detrimental effect on children will always have a new application or aspect to consider.

REFERENCES

Mark, L, Ratliffe 2011 'Cyber Worlds: New Playgrounds for Bullying', Computers in Schools. Vol 28, No 2, pp. 92-116, DOI: 10.1080/09380569.2011.575753

O'Keeffe, G, Clarke-Pearson, K 2011 'The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents and Families', Paediatrics. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2011-0054

'Pro Anorexia and Social Networking Sites', Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Vol 13 No 2, pp. 92. May 2008. DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-3588.2008. 00489_4.x

Strasburger, V, Jordan, A, Donnerstein, E 2012 'Children, Adolescents and the Media' Paediatric Clinics of North America. Vol 59 No 3.

Vandewater, E, Denis, L 2011 'Media, Social Networking, and Paediatric Obesity' Paediatric Clinics of North America Vol. 58 Is. 6