Final draft

CHILDREN AGED TEN ADDICTED TO SOCIAL MEDIA Rushton, Katherine . Daily Mail ; London (UK) [London (UK)]04 Jan 2018: 1.

ProQuest document link

FULL TEXT CHILDREN as young as ten are becoming dependent on social media for their sense of self-worth, a major study

warned.

It found many youngsters now measure their status by how much public approval they get online, often through

'likes'. Some change their behaviour in real life to boost their image on the web.

The report into youngsters aged from eight to 12 was carried out by Children's Commissioner Anne Longfield. She

said social media firms were exposing children to major emotional risks, with some youngsters starting secondary

school ill-equipped to cope with the avalanche of pressure they faced online.

Snapchat, WhatsApp and Instagram were the most popular social networks for the children even though all three

Turn to Page 4 Continued from Page One supposedly require users to be at least 13. The youngsters confessed to

planning excursions around potential photo-opportunities and then messaging friends - and friends of friends - to

demand 'likes' for their online posts.

The report found that youngsters felt their friendships could be at risk if they did not respond to social media posts

quickly, and around the clock.

Children aged eight to ten were 'starting to feel happy' when others liked their posts. However, those in the ten to

12 age group were 'concerned with how many people like their posts' suggesting a 'need' for social validation that

gets more intense the older they become.

Last month a former Facebook boss claimed the social network's 'dopaminedriven feedback loops' were 'ripping

apart the social fabric of how society works'. And ex-Facebook president Sean Parker said: 'God only knows what

it's doing to our children's brains.' Miss Longfield warned that a genera-tion of children risked growing up 'worried

about their appearance and image as a result of the unrealistic lifestyles they follow on platforms like Instagram

and Snapchat, and increasingly anxious about switching off due to the constant demands of social media'. She

said: 'What starts as fun usage of apps - children are using it with family and friends and to play games when they

are in primary school - turns into an avalanche of pressure when children really are faced with a cliff edge of social

media interaction when they start secondary school. While social media clearly provides some great benefits to

children, it is also exposing them to significant risks emotionally. 'I am worried that many children are starting

secondary school ill-equipped to cope with the sudden demands of social media as their world expands.' She said

children compared themselves to others online in a way that was 'hugely damaging in terms of their self-identity, in

terms of their confidence, but also in terms of their ability to develop themselves'.

Miss Longfield added: 'Then there is this push to connect - if you go offline will you miss something, will you miss

out, will you show that you don't care about those people you are following, all of those come together in a huge

way at once.

'For children it is very, very difficult to cope with emotionally.' The Children's Commissioner for England's study -

Life in Likes - found that children as young as eight were using social media platforms such as Snapchat,

WhatsApp and Instagram, largely for play.

However, the research - involving eight groups of 32 children aged eight to 12 - suggested that as the they headed

toward their teens, they became increasingly anxious online.

By the time they started secondary school - at age 11 - children were already far more aware of their image online

and felt under huge pressure to ensure their posts were popular, the report found.

However, they still did not know how to cope with meanspirited jokes, or the sense of inadequacy they might feel if

they compared themselves to celebrities or more glamourous friends online. The report said they also faced

pressure to respond to messages at all hours of the day - especially at secondary school when more youngsters

have mobile phones. The Children's Commissioner said schools and parents must now do more to prepare children

for the emotional minefield they faced online. And she said social media companies must also 'take more

responsibility'. They should either police their websites better so that children do not sign up too early, or they

should tailor their websites to the needs of younger users.

Javed Khan, of children's charity Barnardo's, said: 'It's vital that new compulsory ageappropriate relationship and

sex education lessons in England should help equip children to deal with the growing demands of social media.

'It's also hugely important for parents to know which apps their children are using.' In their own words, the child

'addicts' 'When you get 50 likes it makes you feel good cos you know people think you look good in that photo.'

HARRY, 11 'If I got 150 likes, I'd be like that's pretty cool, it means they like you.' AARON, 11 'I send Bridie lots of

messages saying "respond" until she [replies]' MERRAN, 12 'When you get a buzz, and then you go to get it but you

don't. And then you get another buzz and another buzz, and another buzz. And then you've just got to go get it, and

then you just go off course with your homework.' BILLY, 9 'I probably use it [social media] 18 hours in a day.'

BRIDIE, 11 You might compare yourself cos you're not very pretty compared to them.' AIMEE, 11 'If you don't have

designer and expensive things people will make fun of you.' HARRY, 11 'I saw a pretty girl and everything she has I

want, my aim is to be like her. I want her stuff, her white house and her MAC makeup. Seeing her makes me feel

cosy.' BRIDIE, 11 'My mum takes pictures of me on Snapchat, to send on Whatsapp …I don't like it when your

friends and family take a picture of you when you don't want them to.' HASSAN, 8 'I just edit my photos to make

sure I look nice.' ANNIE, 11

'Avalanche of pressure'

CREDIT: By Katherine Rushton Media and Technology Editor

CAPTION: ; DETAILS

Subject: Social networks; Families &family life; Children &youth; Secondary schools

Publication title: Daily Mail; London (UK)

LINKS Check Alma for Availability

Database copyright  2018 ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. Terms and Conditions Contact ProQuest

First page: 1

Publication year: 2018

Publication date: Jan 4, 2018

Section: News

Publisher: Solo Syndication, a division of Associated Newspapers Ltd.

Place of publication: London (UK)

Country of publication: United Kingdom, London (UK)

Publication subject: General Interest Periodicals--Great Britain

ISSN: 03077578

Source type: Newspapers

Language of publication: English

Document type: News

ProQuest document ID: 1984044139

Document URL: https://search.proquest.com/docview/1984044139?accountid=9969

Copyright: Copyright Solo Syndication, a division of Associated Newspapers Ltd. Jan 4, 2018

Last updated: 2018-01-04

Database: Global Newsstream