Parenting in the Era of Social Media
Parenting in the era of social media is quite challenging and different from how it used to be. Here are some parenting techniques perfect for this era.
Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and whatnot are now being used by children all over the globe.
With so many different social media platforms screening out what’s wrong and what’s suitable from all the content available is one of the most challenging things, which definitely makes parenting quite hard in this day and age.
1. Learn about the many approaches to social media parenting.
It really should not be a shock that parents’ approaches to managing their children’s social media use differ greatly. There are four common tactics that parents adopt while supervising their adolescents’ social media use, based on the researchers. They are as follows:
Autonomy-restrictive. This strategy imposes norms in a rigorous and severe manner, with little regard for the viewpoints of teenagers.
Autonomy-supportive. This method considers teenagers’ views and gives a child development explanation for social media restrictions.
Permissive. This method avoids direction and debate while imposing few constraints or norms.
Inconsistent. This method, or lack thereof, arises when parents’ limitations, prohibitions, or debates about social media fluctuate at unexpected times.
Several other styles exist as well. Some people engage in “social media monitoring,” in which they monitor their children’s media use, for instance, by employing monitoring software, keeping their children’s social media passwords, or examining their children’s social media profiles. Researchers classified social media monitoring into two main categories: “authoritarian surveillance” (for example, accessing teenage social media accounts and credentials) and “nonintrusive inspection” (for example, going through their profiles).
There are also instances of “co-usage,” in which children and their parents use social media simultaneously.
Before trying to change your social media approach to parenting, consider your existing social media attitude and how your kid or kids may view it.
2. A harsher method may be preferable.
While there is no “correct” solution to the subject of how to raise children in the times of social media, statistics show that more active tactics provide greater success than passive methods.
All in all, studies show that children and teens report less troublesome use when mom and dad use more authoritative parenting, constrictive or active intervention, or strict web and mobile phone principles.
There is additional evidence that teenagers devote less time to the internet when their parents take an autonomy-supportive attitude. Other data suggests that when families employ a more autonomy-restrictive approach to limit teenagers’ social media usage, they experience greater anxiety and depression symptoms, but when families adopt an autonomy-supportive style, they have fewer symptoms.
Moreover, there is much to be said for building a family climate in which social media discussion between children and parents is supportive and two-way—while enforcing tight limits on excessive consumption and dysfunctional social media behaviour.
Keep up to date as social media develops.
Many major questions remain unanswered. It is still uncertain, for instance, if the sort of social media your child uses (whether online, on a cellphone, for gaming, etc.) determines how you should handle it as a parent. It’s also uncertain how soon the detrimental impacts of excessive social media use on a child’s happiness will be reversed.
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