Social networks have been established in society before it could be determined what the real impact of their continued use has on the mental health of their minors. Now, dozens of scientific studies are trying to clarify the relationship between the increase in hours spent on interactions in the virtual world and the rise in mental health problems detected among young people.
"Social isolation is being compared to obesity because of its potential relationship to negative health effects." In addition, this isolation is "related to unnatural increases in cortisol patterns," the stress hormone, which can "disrupt sleep, immune and cognitive functions," according to the publication Social Media Use and Perceived Social Isolation Among Young Adults in the US.
The aforementioned research indicates that the use of social networks, such as Instagram, Tik Tok or Twitter, has served to connect people who felt lonely. However, frequent exposure to "unrealistic" images that are spread on them can give the impression that others "live happier, with more connected lives and make users feel more socially isolated, in comparison."
The Study and Diagnosis of Addictions of Young People in municipalities with less than 20,000 inhabitants of Lanzarote, prepared by Tágora Estudios e Intervención Social, highlights that young people from Lanzarote choose the internet to have fun and the majority (eight out of ten) use social networks regularly between five and seven days a week.
The research, the study on the perception of mental health of young people and the misuse of technology, prepared by DKV and Educar es todo, reports that the misuse of technological devices makes adolescents "less empathetic, kind and less cooperative", in addition it harms their rest, relationships with their friends and with their family. The aforementioned research relates the greater probability of suffering anxiety, stress and depression with the misuse of social networks.
Along these lines, runs the New York Times bestseller The Anxious Generation: How Social Media Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness Among Our Youth. In it, the American social psychologist, author of the work, Jonathan Haidt warns that launching children and adolescents into the world of social networks without protection or supervision is like sending them on an expedition to Mars without knowing the consequences that this trip may have on their health.
This expert points out that parents have chosen to overprotect their children in the real world, while they have totally unprotected them in the virtual world. At this point, he indicates that the excessive use of social networks does not affect boys and girls equally, since it burdens them with a greater weight towards their physical image and pushes them to compare themselves with other girls in the virtual world, while it isolates them through online games and pornography.
According to expert sources consulted by La Voz, the increase in diagnoses with depressive symptoms in minors in the Canary Islands is related to "the use of social networks and the social isolation of adolescents." "They are isolating themselves from social and physical contact and do not have a circle where they can express how they feel or what is happening to them," the same sources continue.
In addition to this social isolation and a disproportionate use of networks, there is a tendency to have little tolerance for frustration, due to overprotection during their education: "The kids don't want to fail, we are sold a hedonistic culture of there are no problems at a social level, everything is going smoothly, the parents cover them with material things, then there is no tolerance for frustration, school failure or a certain physique is not assumed."
These circumstances are aggravated by the lack of support at home, the problems in establishing strong physical social networks and "the lack of working on personality aspects."
To stop this wave of mental health problems in young people, the Canary Islands already has its first Intervention Protocol for suicidal risk detected in educational institutions of the Canary Islands. The document is committed to establishing mechanisms that allow the early detection of people at risk. Therefore, it indicates the importance of paying attention to changes in behavior, verbal or written expressions that may hide suicidal thoughts. However, it is also placing an extra burden on schools.
The expert sources consulted by this editorial office point out that "access to social networks should have an age limit to be able to access and limited access to certain types of content", thus indicating, for example, the seriousness of the fact that children of six or seven years old are participating in viral challenges or consuming pornographic content on the internet. In addition, they advise that socially we must work on "the aspects of personality, not only from schools, which are already receiving a lot of responsibility, but from home." In this sense, for example, they promote "the growth of self-esteem, working on a self-concept, learning to be assertive, to say no, to develop tolerance to frustration. All this, if you do not have it in balance, can cause you to develop a mental health problem."
Recommendations for parents
The aforementioned study by DKV and Educar es todo recommends totally restricting screens in children between 0 and 3 years old. In addition, it advises that children between three and five years old only use screens, "at most", 30 minutes a day and to watch cartoons appropriate for their age and under the supervision of their parents. Meanwhile, from six to twelve years old it recommends a maximum of one hour of use and under the supervision of the family. In addition, it urges families not to give their own device until the age of 14 and that from the age of 16, the time of use of the device cannot exceed that of activities in the real world such as reading, sports, spending time with friends or family.
This research states that the screen cannot be "a babysitter or a child minder", nor "an emotional pacifier" that is used to avoid unpleasant emotions. In addition, it advises establishing a schedule and leaving the mobile phone outside the room during sleeping hours. To conclude, it indicates that children "copy" the behavior of their parents, so you should be aware of the use that is made of the devices. "Let's not demand from them what we do not do," he concludes.
In addition, experts point out the importance of sport in mental health. "We all know that sport provides the release of endorphins, of adrenaline" and that in itself "creates social networks and creates strong social networks."
