This document discusses how online content impacts adolescent development and behavior. It reports that 92% of adolescents go online daily, with 23% being constantly connected. Exposure to inappropriate content at a young age can negatively impact brain development. A study found that adolescents are exposed to risks like pornography, violence, bullying, and sharing private information online. The document argues for stronger age-required filters on social media platforms and greater parental supervision of children's online activities.
How the content online is shaping the growth of adolescents
1. How the Content Online is
Shaping the Growth of
Adolescents
Jenna Hynek, Moriah Hood, Grant Whyte, and Maria Naylon
2. Key Concepts
1. Adolescents are viewing content that is not age-
appropriate.
2. This exposure is impacting adolescents self-identity
and perception. This exposure may cause self-
destructive behavior and reactive thoughts.
3. What Do We Currently Know About
Children & Online Communication?
- Reportedly, 92% of adolescents go online daily
- Of those 92%, 23% are online constantly
- Children around the age of 12-years-old are not yet
biologically developed in cognitive functions for proper
ethical thinking or actions.
- According to Pew Research,89% of teens use at least
one form of social media
4. What Do We Currently Know About
Children & Online Communication?
- Being exposed to content that is inappropriate for a
child’s age can have detrimental impacts on their brain
development
- 21% of 11 to 16-year-olds have come across one type
of potentially harmful content
- Lawmakers are pushing for legislation to make
producers of the content filter themselves.
5. What Do We Currently Know?
- In one particular study using children 9 to 16-years-old
children were asked “What things on the internet
bother people your age?”
- Over 9,600 children identified some risk.
- Over 15,000 risks were named
6. What Do We Currently Know?
These risks were coded into categories:
1. Content Risk (porn, violent, scary content, drugs, racist)
2. Conduct Risk (threats, insults, bullying, hacking, defamation, sexting,
sharing personal info)
3. Contact Risk (strangers, inappropriate sexual content, false identity, face-
to-face meeting after online contact).
4. Other (gambling, virus, pop-ups, spam, illegal downloading)
7. What Do We Think Should Be Done?
- Parents should be responsible for filtering what their
children can view
- Higher advanced age-required filters to be in place
8. Our Solution: Age-Required Filters
- To created more accurate and secure filters, some
form of identification must be used when creating an
account on social media platforms
- After providing a form of identification, the site(s)
would then automatically create a filter of age-
appropriate content for you
9. Parental Supervision
- Parents will be responsible for controlling what their
children have access to
- Parents will have to enter their identification in for
children and respond to an email confirmation
10. In Conclusion..
The main computer-mediated communication theories
we focused on are:
1. Culture
2. Social Media & Identity
Although, the computer-mediated communication has
given us many great benefits it is important to focus on
how exposure may be impacting future generations.
11. References
Ben-Joseph, E. P. (Ed.). (2016, December). How Media Use Affects Your Child (for Parents). Retrieved from
https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/tv-affects-child.html
Impact of media use on children and youth. (2003). Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2792691/
Flannery, D. J., Singer, M. I., & Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education. (2018, September 19).
Here's how witnessing violence harms children's mental health. Retrieved from http://theconversation.com/heres-how-
witnessing-violence-harms-childrens-mental-health-53321
12. References Continued..
Fact Check: How does social media affect your mental health? (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.theweek.co.uk/checked-out/90557/is-social-media-bad-for-your-mental-health
Social Media Age Restrictions - Advice for Parents. (2018, July 23). Retrieved from
https://www.webwise.ie/parents/when-should-i-allow-my-child-to-use-social-media/
Percival, T. (2017, December 26). The Importance of Social Media Age Restrictions. Retrieved from
https://www.netnanny.com/blog/the-importance-of-social-media-age-restrictions/