Internet Safety & Social Media

The long-term effects of social media has yet to be known, but experts have assembled some pros/cons the social media has posed to adolescents.

Social media has positive aspects:

• it can help people connect with others far away (virtual relationships);
• can act as a social support network;
• allows people to access communication and entertainment;
• it can also help adolescents connect in homework groups;
• it is also an avenue that can be used to help people interact and learn.

But, there are negative aspects as well:

• Can impact adolescents body image by seeing all the ‘perfect’ photos that people post of themselves;
• it can affect the mental health of teens, studies show the level of contentment goes down and levels of depression goes up;
• opens up the possibility of cyberbullying, which could lead to depression and anxiety;
• and it opens the children up to possibility of being victimized on-line by social predators.

Everday nine people die due to distracted driving.