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This website tells out that how do you know a child is being cyberbullying.

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5 Ways to Find out if a Child is Being Cyberbullied from Children's Hospital Colorado.

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This is a graph telling you that how many smartphone users in Thailand. ( graphs are in million )

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Smartphone users in Thailand 2013-2022 | Statistic

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This forecast shows the number of smartphone users in Thailand from 2013 to 2022. For 2017, the number of smartphone users in Thailand is estimated to reach 24.14 million, with the number of smartphone users worldwide forecast to exceed 2.3 billion users by that time.

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This website tells us the social network in Thailand.

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Thailand: social network penetration 2016 | Statistic

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This statistic presents the social network penetration in Thailand. As of the fourth quarter 2016, 67 percent of the population were active social media users. The most popular social network was Facebook with a 65 percent penetration rate.

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This picture tells us that the guy is get a addicted to social media.

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This picture tell us that if you get addicted to it logout and not playing it anymore

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This picture tell us that chatting is stranger is fun of dangerous, it also let us this more deeply about it.

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20 ways you could use social media for good

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20 ways you could use social media for good

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This will tell you that how can you use social media for good

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20 Ways to Use Social Media for Social Good

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I truly believe that social media has the power to make the world a better place -- and many others believe that too. 98% of nonprofit organizations have a Facebook presence, and 72% are establishing themselves on Twitter ( source).

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This website will tell that how you can use social media positively.

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Before you go on Facebook to check out your friends' status updates, beware of what might happen. According to new research, there's a high probability that you'll catch the prevailing mood online-whether it's positive or negative. That's right, Facebook feelings are contagious.

In a recent study published in the online journal PLOS ONE, James Fowler, professor of medical genetics and political science at University of California, San Diego expanded on previous research he'd done about contagious emotions. "We had shown that happiness spreads in face-to-face networks, and wanted to know if the same was true in this new world online," says Fowler.

So he and colleagues used a software program to analyze status updates from 100 million Facebook users in the 100 most populous U.S. cities between 2009 and 2012. The program measured the emotional content of the posts (more than 1 billion of them) and rated each as either positive or negative. Then researchers looked at how rainy days affected posts-both those of the people living in places where it was raining and among those people's friends in sunny cities. They found that rain not only increased negative updates, but it also led to additional negative posts in cities where it wasn't raining.

In short, negative posts begot more negative ones, and positive posts increased positive ones. Interestingly, the positive updates were more powerful.

"We were able to show that your friends who live in different cities are affected by your mood," says Fowler. "In fact, each happy post we write causes our friends who live in other cities to write one to two additional happy posts as well." Meanwhile, each negative post spurred about one negative update among friends.

Want your Facebook feed to be cheerier? Here are five ways to use social media to spread positivity.

Post happy things
As Fowler puts it, "If you're happy and you know it, write a post!"

Use the "like" button
The fact that there's only a "like" button on Facebook (and no "dislike" one) enables the spread of positive messages, Fowler says. So if a friend posts something upbeat, give it a virtual thumbs up.

Ditch downer friends
Un-friend or hide posts from people who routinely write about the bad stuff, he says. An occasional dose of reality is one thing, but constant negativity will just drag you down.

Share fun pictures and videos, too
Words aren't the only contagious posts, it seems. Seeing pictures and videos of our friends makes online communication more like seeing them in person. "And as virtual life becomes more real, its emotional impact increases," Fowler says.

Take to Twitter
Facebook isn't the only place to improve your mood online. Other research has found that positive tweets are three times more likely to be re-tweeted than negative ones.

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5 Ways to Use Social Media to Stay Positive

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Before you go on Facebook to check out your friends' status updates, beware of what might happen. According to new research, there's a high probability that you'll catch the prevailing mood online-whether it's positive or negative. That's right, Facebook feelings are contagious.

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This website tells about social media in Thailand and hows it's going on in each year.

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NoBullying - Bullying & CyberBullying Resources

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If you're wondering if bullying is strongly present in Thailand, the answer would be yes. Aggressive acts of violence are prevalent and widespread in almost every Thai school. And although some of the schools started to take actions and implement programs that prevent such bullying acts, people still do not consider bullying as a serious alarming matter. They still deal with bullying as a normal experience children go through at schools to "toughen up," and this perception must indeed be changed. Here is a short review on the status of bullying in Thailand.
| SEE ALSO: #EnoughIsEnough: The NoBullying Campaign|

Bullying in Schools of Thailand

Although bullying is widespread in the schools of Thailand, teachers often disregard the whole issue, and parents ignore to report what happens to their sons or daughters to the school principal. According to a survey that was done among 1,300 teachers and 3,047 students from ages 9 to 11,who are referred to in Thailand as Prathom, and ages 12 to 14, who are referred to in Thailand as Mathayom, it was found that 40% of the students were being bullied two to three times monthly and sometimes even more frequently. Most of the bullying acts that appear in Thai schools are of the verbal nature, but might also include stealing money.

What proves that bullying in Thailand is a major issue is that 89% of the teachers who participated in this survey mentioned that they have seen students bullying other students during school hours before, but the problem was that about 41% of those who agreed that they came across some incidents before said that they didn't try to stop the bullies, or to interfere. But on the other hand, 70% of those who saw bullying acts reacted in a way or another; some used spanking and others took their food. Either way it was agreed that the bullies must be punished so they would learn to stop such acts.

Bullying is defined as any repetitive intentional act of violence targeted at a person or a group, aiming at harming,intimidating, or humiliating them. Bullying can leave the victim feeling helpless and miserable, with their sense of security threatened and their confidence shattered. It can also leave long-term effects such as depression, anxiety, dropping out of school, or in the worst case suicide.

One of the main issues that was tackled by the UNESCO and Mahidol University in a study that included 30 secondary schools in five different Thai provinces is that students are usually being bullied due to sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. Students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) are usually targeted in the schools of Thailand. Although there is a general tone of tolerance with LGBT communities in Thailand, they remain the most targeted category when it comes to school bullying, like everywhere else in the world. According to the study, about 30.9% of students who considered themselves LGBT were being physically bullied, while 29.3% were being verbally bullied, and 24.4% said that they were being sexually harassed.

Bullying might come in the form of verbal abuse that includes gossiping, name calling, or making fun of the victim and it might as well include threatening them by sending messages on social media websites or emails or even text messages. It might also be physical abuse such as spitting, punching, hitting, and pulling hair. When an incident of bullying occurs at school, most of the time it is between a student and another, but in other cases sometimes a teacher is involved. In Thailand, it is quite known that teachers at schools use corporal punishments even though they have been prohibited long time ago. What is worse is that children avoid telling their parents if a teacher physically punishes them, because most of the time they are afraid they will take the blame and might be punished further by their families. Parents should assure their children that they will sit down and discuss any incident of violence with them, without jumping into conclusions or making matters worse for the child.

Preventing Bullying in the schools of Thailand

1. Teachers should always teach their children the difference between playing with their peers and acts of bullying and cruelty; they should teach them that making fun of someone in class is an unacceptable act, and out of class as well.

2. Teachers should make it easier for students to report any bullying acts they were subjected to, or any they just witnessed.

3. On the other hand, students should have the courage to report an act they saw harmful or they did suffer from; they should learn that reporting such acts will not cause them trouble and will not make things worse with the bully.

4. Eliminating bullying at schools is not the teachers' responsibility alone; it's the parents' as well; they should teach their children to open up to them, they should inform the school that they take bullying issues seriously and will not accept any harm to fall on their children. They should as well inform schools that they will be waiting for serious reactions against bullying.

5. Parents should teach their children what bullying is and should make sure that their children do not turn out to be the bullies themselves.

6. Schools should implement policies that deal with bullying and tell teachers what they should do and how they should react with students with bullying behaviors.

Sometimes people do ask, why are there acts of bullying, why the bully bullies in the first place? There might be some answers for such question; among these answers are:

The bully usually thinks of himself as more powerful than the person he/she is targeting, and they think that bullying others will show off their strength and impress their gang.

Some bullies just use violence to get what they want: lunch money, food, more friends .

One reason might be jealousy, or seeing that the victim is better than them in a way or another.

Some bullies bully others because they have been subjected to bullying themselves, so they want others to feel how they felt and they want to regain the confidence they have lost.

Finally, they might do it because they are bored and are just having fun!

Cyber Bullying in Thailand

Being a country with a population that reaches 65 million, in which 26% of them own one mobile phone and some even more than one, and 28% have easy Internet access with 16% of them Facebook users, cyber bullying in Thailand is naturally existent and is a valid concern since 2002. Having a fine percentage of cyber bullying, Thailand is still not one of the major countries that suffer from bullying over the Internet, but it is still substantial with 26% to 28% of cyber bullying cases reported in it.

Cyber bullying has been defined as an act of threatening, harassing, harming, humiliating, or embarrassing a person; this act is usually repeated by one person or a group of people over the Internet, whether by sending text messages, emails, messages over social media websites such as Facebook, or accessing the victim's personal information without their knowledge and sharing some of their pictures; some other cyber bullying acts might include recorded videos or audios.

One of the studies conducted in Thailand to discover the facts regarding cyber bullying was a study done on 2,500 students around the country starting from 12 years old to 24 years old; it was found that among these students, 43% were being threatened over the Internet. One of the outcomes of this study showed that in most cases, students who suffer from divorced parents or violated families usually turn to annoy others over the Internet, as some sort of outlet to the difficulties that they have already faced in their lives.
In order for families to try and stop cyber bullying acts, they should:

Monitor their children while using the Internet and other technological devices.

Parents should learn information technology skills so they could understand what their children are doing and if they witnessed something, they know how to deal with it.

Cyber bullying is an issue that is becoming more and more widespread over time, and it is even considered a major problem at some schools that must be taken seriously and prevented. For example, the NIST International School has developed the " Rules of the Cyberspace Highway " and in addition to that at least one Bangkok school has blocked MySpace on all school-based computers.

How Cyber Bullying Should Be Avoided

1. Students should avoid any aggressive behavior they face on the Internet, and this can be done by not using their real names in chat rooms, deleting the messages that are received via e-mails, and sometimes the whole e-mail address could be changed in order to stop receiving any harmful messages at all.

2. On the parents' side, they should know well what cyber bullying is and what acts does it include, they should teach themselves how to use the Internet and all the new technological devices, and should discuss everything with their children as well, starting from what they know about bullying, what they consider to be bullying, and what should they do to avoid or prevent it.

3. Teachers should use new strategies in teaching their students, and in some cases even social media websites should be banned from schools in the first place, because they not only encourage such acts among students but also distract their learning process..

Bullying Cases in Thailand

Bullying with all its forms and shapes does not stop at the point where one person is affected psychologically, feeling depressed and helpless, but sometimes the problem goes deeper than this; it might end in death, whether the death of the bully or the death of the victim. The victim might think that his life is no longer useful and start thinking about ending it in some way, committing suicide, or he might feel like the only solution is to get rid of the bully and think of killing him. There are several cases that took place in the schools of Thailand, among them are:

One of the cases in Thailand, Bangkok, is that of the 14-year-old student who found himself driven to the limit by a gang of 17 year-olds, until he couldn't stand it anymore and decided that he is getting rid of one of them; he stabbed one of the gang with a knife in the chest, abdomen, and back, until he killed him. That followed a long while of them physically and verbally abusing him and making his life a living hell.

Internet is taking over a lot of teens' lives; they use it in almost every minute of their days, and that puts them at the risk of misusing it or being faced with some unfamiliar situations where they don't know whether its fine to occur or not and thus not knowing how they should deal with them. One of the cases that took place in Thailand due to the difference in appearance is that of the autistic kid who wanted to get social acceptance among people over the Internet but on the contrary was always being teased by his schools friends, leading him to give it all up and lock himself in his room for a whole month without going to school.

Learn more about Autism and bullying.

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Bullying in Thailand - NoBullying - Bullying & CyberBullying Resources

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If you're wondering if bullying is strongly present in Thailand, the answer would be yes. Aggressive acts of violence are prevalent and widespread in almost every Thai school.

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1. Post a inspiring quote
2. Stay in touch with family and friends
3. Follow inspiring people doing good work.
4. Spread positive messages
5. Post happy things
6. Use "like" bottom
7.Share fun pictures / videos
8. Be positive

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Statistics about cyber bullying (including differences between genders and races)

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Cyber bullying statistics refers to Internet bullying. Cyber bullying is a form of teen violence that can do lasting harm to young people. Bullying statistics show that cyber bullying is a serious problem among teens. By being more aware of cyber bullying, teens and adults can help to fight it.

Cyber bullying affects many adolescents and teens on a daily basis. Cyber bullying involves using technology, like cell phones and the Internet, to bully or harass another person. Cyber bullying can take many forms:

Sending mean messages or threats to a person's email account or cell phone

Spreading rumors online or through texts

Posting hurtful or threatening messages on social networking sites or web pages

Stealing a person's account information to break into their account and send damaging messages

Pretending to be someone else online to hurt another person

Taking unflattering pictures of a person and spreading them through cell phones or the Internet

Sexting, or circulating sexually suggestive pictures or messages about a person

Cyber bullying can be very damaging to adolescents and teens. It can lead to anxiety, depression, and even suicide. Also, once things are circulated on the Internet, they may never disappear, resurfacing at later times to renew the pain of cyber bullying.

Many cyber bullies think that bullying others online is funny. Cyber bullies may not realize the consequences for themselves of cyberbullying. The things teens post online now may reflect badly on them later when they apply for college or a job. Cyber bullies can lose their cell phone or online accounts for cyber bullying. Also, cyber bullies and their parents may face legal charges for cyber bullying, and if the cyber bullying was sexual in nature or involved sexting, the results can include being registered as a sex offender. Teens may think that if they use a fake name they won't get caught, but there are many ways to track some one who is cyber bullying.

Despite the potential damage of cyber bullying, it is alarmingly common among adolescents and teens. According to Cyber bullying statistics from the i-SAFE foundation:

Over half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online, and about the same number have engaged in cyber bullying.

More than 1 in 3 young people have experienced cyberthreats online.

Over 25 percent of adolescents and teens have been bullied repeatedly through their cell phones or the Internet.

Well over half of young people do not tell their parents when cyber bullying occurs.

The Harford County Examiner reported similarly concerning cyber bullying statistics:

Around half of teens have been the victims of cyber bullying

Only 1 in 10 teens tells a parent if they have been a cyber bully victim

Fewer than 1 in 5 cyber bullying incidents are reported to law enforcement

1 in 10 adolescents or teens have had embarrassing or damaging pictures taken of themselves without their permission, often using cell phone cameras

About 1 in 5 teens have posted or sent sexually suggestive or nude pictures of themselves to others

Girls are somewhat more likely than boys to be involved in cyber bullying

The Cyberbullying Research Center also did a series of surveys that found these cyber bullying statistics:

Over 80 percent of teens use a cell phone regularly, making it the most popular form of technology and a common medium for cyber bullying

About half of young people have experienced some form of cyber bullying, and 10 to 20 percent experience it regularly

Mean, hurtful comments and spreading rumors are the most common type of cyber bullying

Girls are at least as likely as boys to be cyber bullies or their victims

Boys are more likely to be threatened by cyber bullies than girls

Cyber bullying affects all races

Cyber bullying victims are more likely to have low self esteem and to consider suicide

Parents and teens can do some things that help reduce the cyber bullying statistics:

Talks to teens about cyber bullying, explaining that it is wrong and can have serious consequences. Make a rule that teens may not send mean or damaging messages, even if someone else started it, or suggestive pictures or messages or they will lose their cell phone and computer privileges for a time.

Encourage teens to tell an adult if cyber bullying is occurring. Tell them if they are the victims they will not be punished, and reassure them that being bullied is not their fault.

Teens should keep cyber bullying messages as proof that the cyber bullying is occurring. The teens' parents may want to talk to the parents of the cyber bully, to the bully's Internet or cell phone provider, and/or to the police about the messages, especially if they are threatening or sexual in nature.

Try blocking the person sending the messages. It may be necessary to get a new phone number or email address and to be more cautious about giving out the new number or address.

Teens should never tell their password to anyone except a parent, and should not write it down in a place where it could be found by others.

Teens should not share anything through text or instant messaging on their cell phone or the Internet that they would not want to be made public - remind teens that the person they are talking to in messages or online may not be who they think they are, and that things posted electronically may not be secure.

Encourage teens never to share personal information online or to meet someone they only know online.

Keep the computer in a shared space like the family room, and do not allow teens to have Internet access in their own rooms.

Encourage teens to have times when they turn off the technology, such as at family meals or after a certain time at night.

Parents may want to wait until high school to allow their teens to have their own email and cell phone accounts, and even then parents should still have access to the accounts.

If teens have been the victims or perpetuators of cyber bullying they may need to talk to a counselor or therapist to overcome depression or other harmful effects of cyber bullying.

Sources:

Richard Webster, Harford County Examiner, "From cyber bullying to sexting: What on your kids' cell?" [online]

i-SAFE Inc., "Cyber Bullying: Statistics and Tips" [online]

Cyberbullying Research Center, "Summary of our cyberbullying research from 2004-2010" [online]

National Crime Prevention Council, "Cyberbullying" [online]

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Cyber Bullying Statistics - Bullying Statistics

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Cyber bullying statistics refers to Internet bullying. Cyber bullying is a form of teen violence that can do lasting harm to young people. Bullying statistics show that cyber bullying is a serious problem among teens. By being more aware of cyber bullying, teens and adults can help to fight it.

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Social Media Bullying Has Become a Serious Problem

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Social Media Bullying Has Become a Serious Problem

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Great info on bullying on social media sites (has video)

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Tons of statistics (%) about teens & social media (including % about how many have been a bully or have been bullied by someone online)

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Teens, Social Media, & Technology Overview 2015

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Teens, Social Media, & Technology Overview 2015

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Great FACTS and STATISTICS about teens' use of technology & social media (America only)

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Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech

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24% of teens go online "almost constantly," facilitated by the widespread availability of smartphones.

Aided by the convenience and constant access provided by mobile devices, especially smartphones, 92% of teens report going online daily - including 24% who say they go online "almost constantly," according to a new study from Pew Research Center. More than half (56%) of teens - defined in this report as those ages 13 to 17 - go online several times a day, and 12% report once-a-day use. Just 6% of teens report going online weekly, and 2% go online less often.

Much of this frenzy of access is facilitated by mobile devices. Nearly three-quarters of teens have or have access to a smartphone and 30% have a basic phone, while just 12% of teens 13 to 17 say they have no cell phone of any type. African-American teens are the most likely of any group of teens to have a smartphone, with 85% having access to one, compared with 71% of both white and Hispanic teens. These phones and other mobile devices have become a primary driver of teen internet use: Fully 91% of teens go online from mobile devices at least occasionally. Among these "mobile teens," 94% go online daily or more often. By comparison, teens who don't access the internet via mobile devices tend to go online less frequently. Some 68% go online at least daily.

African-American and Hispanic youth report more frequent internet use than white teens. Among African-American teens, 34% report going online "almost constantly" as do 32% of Hispanic teens, while 19% of white teens go online that often.

Facebook is the most popular and frequently used social media platform among teens; half of teens use Instagram, and nearly as many use Snapchat

Facebook remains the most used social media site among American teens ages 13 to 17 with 71% of all teens using the site, even as half of teens use Instagram and four-in-ten use Snapchat.
71% of teens use more than one social network site
Teens are diversifying their social network site use. A majority of teens - 71% - report using more than one social network site out of the seven platform options they were asked about. Among the 22% of teens who only use one site, 66% use Facebook, 13% use Google+, 13% use Instagram and 3% use Snapchat.

This study uses a somewhat different method than Pew Research Center's previous reports on teens. While both are probability-based, nationally representative samples of American teens, the current survey was administered online, while our previous work involved surveying teens by phone. A great deal of previous research has found that the mode of interview - telephone vs. online self-administration - can affect the results. The magnitude and direction of these effects are difficult to predict, though for most kinds of questions, the fundamental conclusions one would draw from the data will be similar regardless of mode. Accordingly, we will not compare specific percentages from previous research with results from the current survey. But we believe that the broad contours and patterns evident in this web-based survey are comparable to those seen in previous telephone surveys.

Facebook remains a dominant force in teens' social media ecosystems, even as Instagram and Snapchat have risen into a prominent role in teens' online lives. Asked which platforms they used most often, the overall population of teens in this sample (ages 13 to 17) reported that Facebook was the site they used most frequently (41% said that), followed by Instagram (20%) and Snapchat (11%).

Boys are more likely than girls to report that they visit Facebook most often (45% of boys vs. 36% of girls). Girls are more likely than boys to say they use Instagram (23% of girls vs. 17% of boys) and Tumblr (6% of girls compared with less than 1% of boys). Older teens ages 15 to 17 are more likely than younger teens to cite Facebook (44% vs. 35% of younger teens), Snapchat (13% vs. 8%) and Twitter (8% vs. 3%) as a most often used platform, while younger teens ages 13 to 14 are more likely than their older compatriots to list Instagram (25% vs. 17% of older teens) as a platform they visit most often.

Middle and upper income teens lean toward Instagram and Snapchat

The survey data reveals a distinct pattern in social media use by socio-economic status. Teens from less well-off households (those earning less than $50,000) are more likely than others to say they use Facebook the most: 49% of these teens say they use it most often, compared with 37% of teens from somewhat wealthier families (those earning $50,000 or more).

Teens from more affluent households are somewhat more likely than those from the least affluent homes to say they visit Snapchat most often, with 14% of those from families earning more than $75,000 saying Snapchat is their top site, compared with 7% of those whose families earn less than $30,000 annually. Twitter shows a similar pattern by income, with the wealthiest teens using Twitter more than their least well-to-do peers. It should be noted that some of these differences may be artifacts of differences in use of these sites by these different subgroups of teens.

Smartphones facilitate shifts in teens' communication and information landscape

As American teens adopt smartphones, they have a variety of methods for communication and sharing at their disposal. Texting is an especially important mode of communication for many teens. Some 88% of teens have or have access to cell phones or smartphones and 90% of those teens with phones exchange texts. A typical teen sends and receives 30 texts per day

And teens are not simply sending messages through the texting system that telephone companies offer. Some 73% of teens have access to smartphones and among them messaging apps like Kik or WhatsApp have caught on. Fully 33% of teens with phones have such apps. And Hispanic and African-American youth with phones are substantially more likely to use messaging apps, with 46% of Hispanic and 47% of African-American teens using a messaging app compared with 24% of white teens.

Girls dominate social media; boys are more likely to play video games

Teenage girls use social media sites and platforms - particularly visually-oriented ones - for sharing more than their male counterparts do. For their part, boys are more likely than girls to own gaming consoles and play video games.

Data for this report was collected for Pew Research Center. The survey was administered online by the GfK Group using its KnowledgePanel, in English and Spanish, to a nationally representative sample of over 1,060 teens ages 13 to 17 and a parent or guardian from September 25 to October 9, 2014 and February 10 to March 16, 2015. In the fall, 1016 parent-teen pairs were interviewed. The survey was re-opened in the spring and 44 pairs were added to the sample. For more on the methods for this study, please visit the Methods section at the end of this report.

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Teens, Social Media & Technology Overview 2015

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24% of teens go online "almost constantly," facilitated by the widespread availability of smartphones. Aided by the convenience and constant access provided by mobile devices, especially smartphones, 92% of teens report going online daily - including 24% who say they go online "almost constantly," according to a new study from Pew Research Center.

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includes lots of research

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Social Media and Its Effect On Teens || SciTalk || Chloe

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Similar to a Ted Talk, I (Chloe) make points about the effect social media has on teens.

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A video of interviews of kids about how they feel about social media + science about the brain

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Rebuilding Self-Esteem After Addiction to Social Media

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Rebuilding Self-Esteem After Addiction to Social Media

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Tedx talk about self-esteem and social media (listen for the statistics about males and females!)

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Rebuilding Self-Esteem After Addiction to Social Media | Sarayu Chityala | TEDxMarkhamPublicLibrary

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Have you ever felt sad after checking out your favourite social media site? Sarayu explains why that might happen to us sometimes, and how to overcome false feelings of inadequacy. Sarayu Chityala is a 15 year old teenager in grade 10 at Bur Oak Secondary School in Markham.

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The upside of selfies: Social media isn't all bad for kids

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The upside of selfies: Social media isn't all bad for kids

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This is an interesting article that gives the perspective of teens on the POSITIVES of social media. I'm curious if you guys agree with this teens perspective...

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I'll admit it right at the start: When I think about teens and social media, I immediately begin to tally up the negatives.

What good could possibly come from teens and tweens spending gobs of time on online networks, posting nonstop "selfies," some in rather suggestive poses, and often communicating with people they don't even know?

A running joke at home: My girls, ages 6 and 7, can't get iPhones until they're 40.

But then I chat with other moms, who always know best, and a picture emerges that social media is not always the scary enemy some of us might think it is for our tweens and teens.

Take the "selfie," for example, which if you haven't already heard has been named Oxford Dictionaries' word of the year for 2013. Really!

Eileen Masio, a mom of two in New York, monitors her daughter Amelia's Instagram account 24/7. Yes, most of the posts are "selfies," but it's the comments that make her think there is also a positive to this nonstop engagement.

"I think just as damaging as social media can be, it can ... help to build self-confidence, too," said Masio, during a recent interview including her husband, 13-year-old Amelia and 8-year-old son William.

"When they post selfies, all the comments I usually see are 'You're beautiful,' 'You're so pretty,' 'Oh my God, gorgeous,'" said Masio.

Report: Teens say social media more positive than negative

In fact, according to a report last year by the nonprofit child advocacy group Common Sense Media, one in five teens said social media makes them feel more confident, compared with 4% who said it makes them feel less so.

In the survey of more than 1,000 13- to 17-year-olds about how they view their digital lives, 28% said social networking made them feel more outgoing versus 5% who said it made them feel less so; and 29% said it made them feel less shy versus the 3% who said it made them feel more introverted.

When it comes to relationships with friends, more than half (52%) of teens said social media has made them better versus just 4% who said it has negatively affected those relationships.

"On the whole, teens said that they feel that social media has a more positive than negative impact on their social and emotional lives," said Shira Lee Katz, Common Sense Media's director of digital media. "They believe that social media helps their friendships, makes them feel more outgoing and gives them confidence."

News outlets focus on the negative

The findings are likely to come as a surprise to most parents, including this writer, especially because most of what we hear about social media, especially in the media, are the negatives, such as how cyberbullying can turn tragic.

"For every heartbreaking case of cyberbullying, there are many stories of teens using social media for good," said Katz.

Rebecca Levey, co-founder of a video sharing platform for tweens ages 7 to 12 called KidzVuz, has seen it firsthand. During a special partnership with the Tony Awards earlier this year, kids were encouraged to either make videos singing parts of their favorite show tunes or talk about why theater was so important to them.

"The response from other kids was so awesome. I mean we had kids who were truly tone deaf and it didn't matter," said Levey with a chuckle. "Everyone's like, 'You're awesome,' 'Go follow your dream,' 'Don't give up.'"

Levey said another benefit is for kids who might feel slightly isolated to connect with other tweens and teens who share their same interests.

"They can just find other kids who are superexcited about the same thing, so if you are living in a small town and you're the only kid who loves musical theater, instead of feeling like a freak about it, you can go online and find all these other kids that love musical theater," she said.

Social media has been a place where teens, who might be feeling isolated, can cry for help. For example, when an 18-year-old recently posted on his Facebook page that he was thinking of jumping off the George Washington Bridge, which connects New York with New Jersey, Port Authority officers managed to connect with him on social media and encouraged him to get help.

Social media for social good

Teens have also shown they can use social media to make their voices heard. After a Christian motivational speaker, who believes "dateable girls know how to shut up," spoke at a high school in Richardson, Texas, students took to Twitter to express their outrage.

One student wrote on Twitter, "Don't you guys just love listening to sexist comments, irrational comparisons and blunt stereotypes w/o actual proof or evidence?"

"Teens and this young generation in general want action," said Elena Sonnino, a founder of the site Live.Do.Grow, social media strategist and writer who focuses on engaging tweens and teens in using their voice for social good.

"They want to be able to see, for better or for worse, really quick action and social media allows them to create positive, meaningful change quickly."

Sonnino, who has created a Facebook group called Grow Global Citizens, said social media has not only increased tweens and teens' awareness of the world around them, but also has allowed them to be more innovative about how they can get involved.

"In the past ... they would do canned food drives, they'd do the book drives, they'd do all the things that have been done over and over, which were all wonderful, don't get me wrong, but now ... they're realizing there is so much more they can do," said Sonnino.

At a recent digital family summit, Sonnino said she heard from kids who are doing things like creating Rainbow Loom bracelets to raise money for cystic fibrosis, and taking "selfies" and using the hashtag #unselfie to promote awareness of " Giving Tuesday," the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, which is billed as a day to promote giving to others during the holiday season.

Message to parents: Have the talk

Levey said she and KidzVuz co-founder Nancy Friedman try to urge parents to, in essence, get with the program about social media. The genie is out of the bottle, folks.

"We liken it to the sex talks," said Levey. "You can either have the argument that you never want to tell your kids about sex and you don't want them to learn, and then good luck to them, or you can give them the rules and sort of be there with them every step of the way."

"I think part of the problem is parents, unlike (talking about) sex, really don't know the rules themselves," she said.

But teens like Amelia Masio are learning the digital ropes and are showing us parents that they're just fine in the vast social media landscape.

Recently, Amelia stood up for someone who was being criticized online, and viewed the exchange "kind of like math in a way, with negative and positive positions."

"If one person says this thing, it brings them down, but if this (other) person says the equal amount just as good, it evens out to a zero," she said.

I'm feeling better already!

Follow Kelly Wallace on Twitter, and like CNN Living on Facebook.

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social media positive for teens? maybe! - cnn

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Social media positive for teens? Maybe! - CNN

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I'll admit it right at the start: When I think about teens and social media, I immediately begin to tally up the negatives. What good could possibly come from teens and tweens spending gobs of time on online networks, posting nonstop "selfies," some in rather suggestive poses, and often communicating with people they don't even know?

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What Are the Effects of Social Media on Youth

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What Are the Effects of Social Media on Youth

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Here's a cool article talking about both negative and positive effects of social media on youth (teens). There's also a video & survey/poll questions so you can collect some data.

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Study Shows:

The average person now spends more time each day on their phone and computer than they do sleeping.

The statistics all tell the same story: Social media are gaining in popularity every day.

The average time spent on social networks per day: 1.72 hours (in 2015).

The average number of hours a teenager spends online per week: 27 (2015).

Social media have become prominent parts of life for many young people today. Most people engage with social media without stopping to think what the effects are on our lives, whether positive or negative. Are we as a society becoming more concerned with Facebook "friends" than we are with the people we interact with face-to-face in our daily lives? What will the longterm effects of today's social media use be?

There are many positive aspects, but there are equally as many dangers that come with the use of sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google +, Tumblr, Instagram, gaming sites, and blogs. In order to make the right choices, we must dig in and research this topic thoroughly.

How Much Time Per Day Do You Spend On Social Media?

What are the positive aspects of engaging in social media?

The positives of social media:
Education:

Teachers are able to easily collaborate and communicate with students and one another.

Students have easy, free access to resources online to help them learn.

Grades improve and absenteeism is reduced.

59% of student users report that they use social networking to discuss educational topics and 50% use the sites to talk about school assignments.

Politics:

Voter participation is increased. Facebook users said they are more likely to vote if they see that their online friends did. During the elections of 2010, users who visited Facebook more than once a day were 2.5 times more likely to attend a political rally or meeting and 43% more likely to say they will vote.

Social media facilitates political change: Online networks give social movements a quick, cheap method of disseminating information and mobilizing people.

Awareness/Being Informed:

27.8% of Americans get their news online. (28.8% get it from newspapers and 18.8% from radio.)

Information spreads faster online than any other media. More than 50% learn about breaking news on social media.

Social networking provides academic research to everyone with online access, allowing people access to previously unavailable resources.

Social media sites inform and empower individuals to change themselves and their communities.

Social Benefits:

Social media allow people to communicate with friends and this increased online communication strengthens those relationships. 52% of online teens say social media have helped their friendships. 88% say being online helps them stay in touch with friends they don't see regularly.

People make new friends. 57% online teens report making new friends online.

Job Opportunities:

Great for professionals for marketing, connecting, and finding business opportunities.

Employers find employees and unemployed find work. 89% of job recruiters have hired via LinkedIn, 26% via Facebook, and 15% via Twitter.

Social media sites have created thousands of jobs and new avenues of income.

The Expectation of Fame and the Importance of Being "Liked"

What are the negative aspects of engaging in social media?

The negatives of social media:
A Detriment to Work and/or School:

Enables cheating on school assignments.

While grades did improve for light users, the grades of students who are heavy users of social media tend to suffer. One study shows that student users have an average GPA of 3.06 while non-users have an average GPA of 3.82.

For every 93 minutes over the average 106 minutes spent on Facebook daily, college students' grades dropped .12 points.

Another study showed that students who went online while studying scored 20% lower on tests.

Possible negative effects on college admission: 35% of admissions officers scan prospective students' social media and report discovering information that affects their admissions decision.

Social networking sites harm employees' productivity. 51% of users aged 25-34 checked social media at work.

Using social media can harm employment and prospects. Job recruiters check a prospective employee's social media accounts, and things like profanity, poor spelling or grammar, racism, sexism, poor health, references to alcohol or drugs, and sexual and religious content can all count against you.

Lack of Privacy:

People, especially the young, are often too open and public with personal information when online. Most don't read privacy policies and may be unaware that their information may be used by third parties, like advertisers, insurance companies, and the IRS. 21% of teens believe it is safe and harmless to post personal information, including photos.

Exposure to corporate and governmental intrusions. The US Justice Department intercepts thousands of pieces of information from email and social networking activity per year.

The IRS trains agents to scan social media for information that can help them resolve taxpayer cases.

Insurance companies use information gleaned from social media, as well. If you have "liked" a medical-related page or a post about a health condition, that information is sometimes used by insurance companies to determine eligibility and raise rates.

Online advertising policies are an invasion of privacy. If you "like" a brand, you're giving that company access to your personal information.

Users Vulnerable to Crime:

Social networking sites allow hate groups to recruit and distribute propaganda online.

Unauthorized sharing and copyright infringement threatens intellectual property and causes loss of income.

Security attacks such as hacking, identity theft, phishing scams, and viruses are common online. 68% of users share their real birth date, 63% share the name of their high school, 18% share their phone number, 12% share a pet's name: This information might be used in identity theft.

Criminals use social media to commit crimes. Robbers know when you're away from your home on vacation and stalkers get information about your whereabouts via social media.

Sexual predators find, stalk, and assault victims through social media.

Sexting (texting sexual content) can be a big problem. When teens post sexy photos or comments online, it can lead to criminal charges and child pornography. 88% of "private" sexual images posted to social media are stolen and publicly posted on porn sites without the subject's knowledge.

Security attacks such as hacking, identity theft, and viruses and exposure to phishing scams are common via social media.

Social Detriments:

Cyber-bullying (the use of electronic communication to bully someone, usually by sending intimidating or threatening messages) is commonplace online, causes emotional trauma, and sometimes even leads to suicide. 49.5% of students reported victimization by bullying online and 33.7% admitted to online bullying. A 2012 study found that at least 800,000 minors had been harassed on Facebook. Middle school children who experienced cyberbullying were almost twice as likely to try to kill themselves.

According to one report, 15% of adult users said that something that happened online caused a friendship to end. 12% of adult users said something that happened online caused a face-to-face argument, and for 3% of adults it turned into a physical confrontation.

Extensive online engagement is correlated with personality and brain disorders like poor social skills, ADHD, narcissistic tendencies, a need for instant gratification, and addictive behaviors and other emotional distress like depression, anxiety, and loneliness.

Less time for face-to-face interaction with loved ones. 47% of 18-34-year-old users reported using social media or texting during meals. 10% of people younger than 25 reported checking their phones and social media during sex.

Children at higher risk for depression, low self-esteem, and eating disorders and more prone to feeling isolated and disconnected (especially youth with disabilities).

Misinformation:

Enables the spread of false rumors and unreliable information: 49.1% of users have read false news on social media.

Encourages amateur medical advice and self-diagnosis of health problems, which can be dangerous and life-threatening.

Advertising:

Studies have shown that sites such as Facebook influence you, via advertisements, to spend more money.

Advertisers gain all kinds of personal information about you via your social media, information they use to persuade you to buy their product.

A Waste of Time:

When alerted to a new post or tweet, it takes about 20 to 25 minutes for the average user to return to their original task. 30% of the time it takes two hours for the user to return to their original task.

What Is Your Opinion About Social Media?

The Bottom Line: Are Social Media Taking Over?

Paradoxically, social media sites can make us not only more capable but also more inept. We sometimes share too much with too many, and we have to be conscious of that. Overall, we have to be careful and caution when approaching these things.

In this day and age, we are pressured 10 different ways as far as our beliefs and opinions are concerned. Are having our own thoughts or are we so influenced by external phenomenon that we believe everything we see online?

In many cases it is clear that social media have become not only part of people's lives but the things their lives revolve around. We see people checking smartphones every two minutes, looking for the latest tweet or status update. It's important yet difficult to retain the attitude that these sites may be useful, but that's all they are-tools, not lifestyles.

Is Our Internet Culture Destroying Us?

Andrew Keen is well-known for his opposition to social networking. He believes that the Internet needs to be more "habitable" for users. He has some bold points that we need to take into consideration.

Status Updates Never Go Away

Even if you delete a post, it never goes away. Since Twitter began, the Library of Congress has been archiving all public tweets. Facebook was cited as a source of information in a third of all divorces filed in 2011.

References and Further Reading

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What Are the Effects of Social Media on Youth?

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The average person now spends more time each day on their phone and computer than they do sleeping. The statistics all tell the same story: Social media are gaining in popularity every day. The average time spent on social networks per day: 1.72 hours (in 2015).

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1. Effects on people/ kids/teens (self esteem)

2. Cyber bullying & threats

3. Privacy & personal info

topic is :

1. Effects on people/ kids/teens

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Teens spend 9 hours a day using social media

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Teens spend 9 hours a day using social media

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This article is about teens spending 9 hours a day using their social media life.

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On any given day, teens in the United States spend about nine hours using media for their enjoyment, according to the report by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit focused on helping children, parents and educators navigate the world of media and technology.

Let's just put nine hours in context for a second. That's more time than teens typically spend sleeping, and more time than they spend with their parents and teachers. And the nine hours does not include time spent using media at school or for their homework.

Tweens, identified as children 8 to 12, spend about six hours, on average, consuming media, the report found.

"I think the sheer volume of media technology that kids are exposed to on a daily basis is mind-boggling," said James Steyer, chief executive officer and founder of Common Sense Media, in an interview.

"It just shows you that these kids live in this massive 24/7 digital media technology world, and it's shaping every aspect of their life. They spend far more time with media technology than any other thing in their life. This is the dominant intermediary in their life."

The report, the first large-scale study to explore tweens and teens' use of the full range of media, according to Common Sense Media, is based on a national sample of more than 2,600 young people ages 8 to 18.

When it comes to consuming media on screens, including laptops. smartphones and tablets, teens, on average, spend more than six and a half hours on screens and tweens more than four and a half hours, the report found.

"I just think that it should be a complete wake-up call to every parent, educator, policymaker, business person (and) tech industry person that the reshaping of our media tech landscape is first and foremost affecting young people's lives and reshaping childhood and adolescence," said Steyer, who's most recent book is "Talking Back to Facebook: The Common Sense Guide to Raising Kids in the Digital Age."

Here are a few more eye-opening highlights about the media habits of Generation Z, according to the report:

No. 1: What's wrong with multitasking?

If teens are, on average, spending nine hours a day consuming media, it's not such a surprise they're often doing it while doing their homework. Half of teens say they "often" or "sometimes" use social media or watch TV while doing their homework. Some 60% say they text and more than 75% say they listen to music while working on schoolwork at home.

And of the kids who multitask, most don't think it effects the quality of their work. Nearly two-thirds say watching TV or texting makes no difference and more than 50% feel the same way when it comes to social media.

"Teenagers think that multitasking during homework doesn't affect their ability to learn and ... we know it does," said Steyer, citing studies such as one at Stanford, which found dramatic differences in cognitive control and the ability to process information between heavy media multitaskers and light media multitaskers.

"It's completely obvious that you can't multitask and be as effective and competent."

No. 2: Boys choose Xbox, Girls Instagram

There are definite gender differences when it comes to media habits of teens and tweens.

Some 62% of teen boys say they enjoy playing video games "a lot" versus 20% of girls. When it comes to using social media, 44% of teen girls say they enjoy it "a lot" versus 29% for boys. Girls, on average, spend about 40 minutes more on social networks than boys, with girls spending about an hour and a half a day on social media and boys a little under an hour.

"I definitely think it shows that girls use media and technology today for more social interaction and boys are much more likely to be gamers, including addicted gamers," said Steyer of Common Sense Media. "There are real differences between boys and girls so that's a message to parents and educators, you have to be aware of the differences."

No. 3: The digital equality gap is real

While ours kids are growing up in a 24/7 digital world, children in lower income households have less access to technology than kids from wealthier families. Only 54% of teens in households making less than $35,000 a year have a laptop in their home versus 92% of teens in households making $100,000 a year or more.

"There's an access gap that whether you like the impact of media or technology on our kids' lives and there are pros and cons, the truth is poor kids have far less access than wealthy kids do and that's just wrong especially when Internet platforms and digital platforms are so key to everything from school to getting a job to connecting with other people," said Steyer. "So closing the digital inequality gap is a huge public-policy issue."

No. 4: Guess what? TV and music still tops

Despite all the new media tweens and teens have at their disposal -- everything from Instagram to YouTube to Xbox, tweens and teens still rank watching TV and listening to music as the activities they enjoy "a lot" and do every day, ahead of playing video games and mobile games, watching online videos and using social media. In fact, only 10% of teens ranked social media as their favorite activity.

"I think the bottom line there is it's a utility now," said Steyer referring to social media. "Increasingly kids are realizing that Facebook and Instagram and SnapChat, they go there and ... they feel they have to go there but they don't love it and that's good. In my opinion, that's good."

No. 5: 'It's a mobile world'

Consider these stats: 53% of tweens -- kids 8 to 12 -- have their own tablet (my kids will try to use this as ammunition to get a tablet of their own!), and 67% of teens have their own smartphones. Mobile devices account for 41% of all screen time for tweens and 46% for teens.

"It's a mobile world so these kids live on mobile platforms," said Steyer. "I mean if you look at the numbers, it's clear that you have this clear transformation of teens and tweens' lives through digital and mobile platforms."

The implications of this digital transformation are huge for tweens and teens, educators, policymakers and parents. For one, living and communicating via mobile devices gets in the way of empathy, said Steyer.

Texting is so much less empathetic than having a conversation in person and looking somebody in the eye and having physical or at least a verbal presence with them, he said.

Add in the issues of digital addiction and the attention and distraction implications that come with mobile devices, and "empathy is really, really under siege," he said.

"That's a huge issue in terms of society and human relationships and how young people are evolving in a social, emotional context." he added, saying more research is needed.

Common Sense Media's next study, due out next year, is about the impact of digital addiction and distraction.

What surprises you about the new report on teen and tween media use? Share your thoughts with Kelly Wallace on Twitter @kellywallacetv or CNN Parents on Facebook.

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Teens spend 9 hours a day using media, report says - CNN

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On any given day, teens in the United States spend about nine hours using media for their enjoyment, according to the report by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit focused on helping children, parents and educators navigate the world of media and technology. Let's just put nine hours in context for a second.

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This article is about how social media affects your brain and what happens after when you play too much.

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Keeping in touch is no longer about face to face, but instead screen to screen, highlighted by the fact that more than 1 billion people are using Facebook every day.

Social media has become second nature -- but what impact is this having on our brain?

Reward circuitry

In a recent study, researchers at the UCLA brain mapping center used an fMRI scanner to image the brains of 32 teenagers as they used a bespoke social media app resembling Instagram. By watching the activity inside different regions of the brain as the teens used the app, the team found certain regions became activated by "likes", with the brain's reward center becoming especially active.

"When teens learn that their own pictures have supposedly received a lot of likes, they show significantly greater activation in parts of the brain's reward circuitry," says lead author Lauren Sherman. "This is the same group of regions responding when we see pictures of a person we love or when we win money."

The teenagers were shown more than 140 images where 'likes' were believed to from their peers, but were in fact assigned by the research team.

Scans revealed that the nucleus accumbens, a part of the brain's reward circuitry, was especially active when teens saw a large number of likes on their own photos, which could inspire them to use social media more often.

Peer influence

As part of the experiment, participants were also shown a range of "neutral" photos showing things like food and friends, and "risky" photos depicting cigarettes and alcohol. But the type of image had no impact on the number of "likes" given by the teens. they were instead more likely to 'like' the more popular photos, regardless of what they showed. This could lead to both a positive and negative influence from peers online.

Sherman believes these results could have important implications among this age group.

"Reward circuitry is thought to be particularly sensitive in adolescence," says Sherman, "It could be explaining, at least in part, why teens are such avid social media users."

Social learning

Adolescence is a period that is very important for social learning, which could explain why teens are often more tuned in to what's going on in their respective cultures. With the rise of social media, Sherman thinks we may even be learning to read likes and shares instead of facial expressions.

"Before, if you were having a face to face interaction everything is qualitative. You use someone's gestures or facial expressions, that sort of thing, to see how effective your message is," she says.

"Now if you go online, one of the ways that you gauge the effectiveness of your message is in the number of likes, favorites or retweets, and this is something that's really different and unique about online interaction."

However, the study may not be applicable to everyone, according to Dr. Iroise Dumontheil,at Birkbeck University.

"[The study] only has adolescents and so they can't really claim anything specific about whether it's adolescents who react to this differently compared to adults."

Changing the brain

Dumontheil does, however, concur that social media is affecting our brain, particularly its plasticity, which is the way the brain grows and changes after experiencing different things.

"Whenever you learn something new or you experience something, it's encoded in your brain, and it's encoded by subtle changes in the strength of connections between neurons," says Dumontheil.

For example, one study showed that the white matter in an adults' brains changed as they learned how to juggle over a period of several months. "They found that if you scan [the brains of] adults before they learn how to juggle, and then three months later, you can see changes in the brain structure," says Dumontheil.

Time spent on social media could, therefore, also cause the brain to change and grow.

"We might be a bit less good at reading subtle expressions on faces that are moving, but we might be much quicker at monitoring what's going on in a whole group of our friends," says Dumontheil.

So are these new skills a good or a bad thing? Neither, she says. "It's just a way we have of adapting to our environment."

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teens: this is how social media affects your brain - cnn

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Keeping in touch is no longer about face to face, but instead screen to screen, highlighted by the fact that more than 1 billion people are using Facebook every day. Social media has become second nature -- but what impact is this having on our brain?

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This article is about social media has affect teenager.
This article is also write by a teenager.

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he digital landscape has put increased pressure on teenagers today, and we feel it. There are so many social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr, you name it. I made a conscious decision to avoid Snapchat and Instagram because of the social pressure I saw them putting on my 14-year-old little sister. If my mum turned off the WiFi at 11pm, my sister would beg me to turn my phone into a hotspot. She always needed to load her Snapchat stories one more time, or to reply to a message that had come in two minutes ago because she didn't want her friend to feel ignored. If I refused, saying she could respond in the morning, I'd get the "You're ruining my social life" speech. Even as a teenager as well, I sometimes find this craze a little baffling.

A new study has found that teenagers who engage with social media during the night could be damaging their sleep and increasing their risk of anxiety and depression. Teenagers spoke about the pressure they felt to make themselves available 24/7, and the resulting anxiety if they did not respond immediately to texts or posts. Teens are so emotionally invested in social media that a fifth of secondary school pupils will wake up at night and log on, just to make sure they don't miss out.

Teens are so emotionally invested in social media that a fifth will wake up at night and log on

Perhaps the worst thing about this is that teenagers need more sleep than adults do, so night-time social media use could be detrimental to their health. Research has shown that teenagers need 9.5 hours of sleep each night but on average only get 7.5 hours. A lack of sleep can make teenagers tired, irritable, depressed and more likely to catch colds, flu and gastroenteritis. These days, I am always tired at school, and I'm not one to stay up until 2am chatting with a boy. Homework and the pressure to have the perfect set of grades mean I'm up late working. And it seems that at school, most of my mates are exhausted too.

During the summer holidays, I lost my phone. And for the week that I was phoneless, it felt like a disaster. I love my phone. It gives me quick access to information and allows me to be constantly looped in with my friends, to know exactly what is going on in their lives. So when I didn't have my phone for a week, I felt a slight sense of Fomo, or if you're not up to speed with the lingo, fear of missing out. By the end of the week, I'd got used to not having a phone and I'd quite enjoyed the break from social media. But there was still a lingering sense of sadness at the back of my mind that there would be conversations I had missed, messages that had been sent, funny videos shared and night-time chats that I would probably never get to see.

A separate study by the National Citizen Service found that, rather than talking to their parents, girls seek comfort on social media when they are worried. The survey also suggests that girls are likely to experience stress more often than boys - an average of twice a week.

It's becoming more and more obvious how the pressures of social media disproportionately affect teenage girls. I can see it all around me. Pressure to be perfect. To look perfect, act perfect, have the perfect body, have the perfect group of friends, the perfect amount of likes on Instagram. Perfect, perfect, perfect. And if you don't meet these ridiculously high standards, then the self-loathing and bullying begins.

What is really worrying is that time and time again, these studies pop up and demonstrate that the mental health of teenagers, especially teenage girls, is on the line. We know this. We know the perils of the internet, we've heard about online bullying and the dangers of Ask.fm, we know the slut-shaming that goes on in our schools. We know these things. We know that these studies demonstrate that we have to make personal, social and health education (PSHE) statutory in schools and ensure it covers a range of issues from healthy eating and sleeping to consent. And yet, Nicky Morgan and the government refuse to act. So I ask: what are we waiting for? Inaction on these issues is harming the physical and emotional wellbeing of young people in this country. What has to happen before we do something?

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Social media is harming the mental health of teenagers. The state has to act | June Eric Udorie

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he digital landscape has put increased pressure on teenagers today, and we feel it. There are so many social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr, you name it. I made a conscious decision to avoid Snapchat and Instagram because of the social pressure I saw them putting on my 14-year-old little sister.

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This article is about selfie culture affects self-esteem.

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The deb ate of whether teenage girls are overly sexualized by magazines, t elevisi on and movies has been discussed and debated for d ecades.....and for good reason. But social media like Facebook, Twitterand Instagram have transformed the playing field completely. Now, teens have control over what they post, what others see and what they share.

Although teen idols such as movie starts and pop singers still play an important role in adolescent development, many young girls now draw comparisons to their classmates, peers and friends as well. In addition, the way young girls choose to communicate has also changed. Instead of sitting on the home phone for hours while chatting w BFF"S or writing in a diary, they are now communicating by online chat, text, IM and now via "selflies" as a way to express themselves. What's a selfie? This is where you take a photograph of yourself with a ph one or camera from arm's length.

The selfie is such a popular concept that it was recently crowned the word of the year by Oxford Dictionaries. The phenomenon has seemed to spread to all corners of society - from prime ministers and the pope, to athletes, and politicians-not just teens. Now, instead of these pictures being stuck on a bedroom wall, many of them end up online - broadcast to hundreds, if not thousands, of people. So is this a boost for self-esteem, or something that can damage an impressionable teenage girl's confidence?

Some believe that the selfie does boost self-esteem. According to a Time magazine article, some researchers believe that selfies have the ability to allow teenage girls to express their moods in a way not possible before. During a phase of life where there is plenty of experimentation, they are able to snap away with different outfits, hair styles, and poses. This helps them to determine the identity they feel most comfortable with, hence boosting self-esteem. Plus, the power of likes and retweets is not to be underestimated. For a teenage girl, receiving likes on Instagram or Facebook can be seen as an endorsement that they are beautiful, from people who are within their social circle. Comments are there to compliment one's appearance in a way that doesn't normally happen in a typical personal encounter.

There is also the benefit of inclusion. There have been more than 90 million photographs uploaded to Instagram using the hashtag #selfie. Participation in this club is a way to bond with friends and strangers alike. You feel like you have a community to go to, if you are feeling alone or isolated. But is this real?

Others believe the selflies are harmful. Teen Vogue (of all places) believesthat selfies place too much emphasis on the physical appearance of teenagers, rather than their personalities. There are psychologists who believe the same. Likes and comments that build self-esteem can crush it as well. After all, if two photos are posted - the first with nine likes and the second with two likes, some girls could perceive this as feeling less valued. And of course, in a world of cyber bullying, negative comments are also a possibility, which can be so hurtful not to mention embarrassing.

Maybe help is on the way. A new app called Snapchat also raises the issue of how inappropriately selfies can be immortalized and used as a weapon for bullying. This new software allows a user to send a photo or video (called a snap) that's only visible for 10 seconds before it is deleted. However, screenshots can be taken, meaning that an innocuous, embarrassing or ill-judged photo could be used as a weapon for intimidation against you.

Overall, opinions are mixed on the true value of the selfie. But by and large, for teenage girls, it seems to simply be a way to have fun and interact with friends - "possibly" boosting self-esteem. However, it also seems that confidence can be crushed when photographs are taken with the intention of soliciting "likes" only and none are given. Regardless of this new craze, by definition self-esteem can only come from within and not by external means. I'd hate to think that true self-esteem (high or low) is only one photo away.

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The debate of whether teenage girls are overly sexualized by magazines, television and movies has been discussedand debated for decades.....and for good reason. But social media like Facebook, Twitterand Instagram have transformed the playing field completely. Now, teens have control over what they post, what others see and what they share.