Majority of communication via social media are through the use of images, this can lead to a negative emphasis on body image. From this children may develop mental health issues surrounding their body image such as anorexia, bulimia or self-harm. Even if children are not sharing images of themselves it can lead to children an increased awareness of your digital visibility and access to others opinions, leaving children feeling stressed and unable to turn off the “amplified sense of self-awareness that social media inevitably leaves you with” (Papadopoulos, 2019). Teachers can support their students by introducing the Safer Internet Centre’s concept of “Digital well-being” (2018). This concept opens up a dialogue about the impact of the children’s online activity on their physical, emotional and mental health. This is supported by Pykitt’s emphasis on the “importance of talk” in regards to online activity (Pykitt, 2019, p26). Children may often lack the confidence to voice their concerns so he suggests teachers and students should explore sites and applications together to build a discussion. To aid these discussions teachers can use the Net aware and Share aware resources on the NCPCC website for helpful information about online behaviour and safety (see links below).
Further information: Link to the Digital Well-Being website, https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/blog/digital-wellbeing-%E2%80%93-guidance-parents
Net Aware: https://www.net-aware.org.uk/
Share Aware: https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/research-resources/schools/share-aware-teaching
social media
Social media can serve to boost well-being as it enables people to engage with others, show achievements and gain attention. However, it can be an “incredibly divisive and damaging tool”, attention received may be negative, interactions with others may be harmful, and the desire to be “popular” may detrimental to children’s well-being (Pykitt, 2019, p 24). Glazzard and Mitchell (2018, p32) cite data from the office of national statistics which highlights that “27 percent of young people who engage with social networking sites for three or more hours a day experience symptoms of mental health”.