Creative Child September 2021 | Page 20

EDITOR ’ S PICK

Certainly social media can play both a positive and negative role in a teenager ’ s life . The research on this topic is still in its infancy , and results have been mixed . Some studies have reported that texting and social networking does help young people feel more connected to their peers which facilitates belonging while others have found that a sense of belonging is more likely to come from social networking for boys than it is for girls and can make adolescents more vulnerable to bullying and ostracism , which negatively impacts belonging . There is a lot we have left to learn about the impact of social media on the developing minds and self-images of our children and adolescents , but one thing is for certain - a thumbs up on Facebook isn ’ t enough to sustain them .
19