INTERNET AND CHILD WELL BEING.

Photo(courtesy of Google)

 Late childhood and adolescent is the critical time for social and emotional development this life stage has been hugely affected by the adoption of the internet as a source of information,entertainment and communication.

United National Research estimates that 3.5billion people uses the internet and one third of these are under 18.

Today's children have grown up with the internet and spend more time online than they do in watching television  internet can have both postive and negative effects on child well being because of the wide range activities that are done online.

First the internet can influence well being by changing time use pattern by making existing tasks like shopping ,coursework more efficient freeing up time for other activities.

Second the internet facilitates new activities that can have both postive and negative impact to children it has enabled online gaming and digital social network which are now almost present in their use leading to addiction.

The internet enables greater access to information contributing to social and education development however the rapid increase of inaccurate content and inappropriate sexual or violent content can be damaging to child well being.

Internet provides new communication tools such as skype,emails and instant messaging this tools have the potential to increase both the scope and intesity of social interactions. 

There are two theories that explain why social media use can have a negative effect on children's emotional health. 

1.social comparison -increased social media use is linked to more frequent social comparison which is more likely to increase  negativity .the materials people choose to present online represents selectively idealised versions of their true lives this makes young social media users act naively failing to understand the materials is not representative. 

2.cyber bullying theory -children who spend more time on social media have high chances of being victims of direct attacks froms others on their well being and self- esteem.

Cyber bullying influences suicidal behaviour leading to many children taking their own lives because of being harrased over the internet. 

Inorder to improve our children's well  being we should limit internet and social media use during childhood may help to improve emotional health.