Social Networking Impact on Teenagers “From the time I get home until I go to bed, I’m usually on my computer,” said Ben Knight, a fourteen years old boy who was asked about how he spends his time. Ben isn’t the only one. According to a study managed by the Kaiser Family Foundation, teenagers today spend an average of seven hours a day accessing social networks- playing video games, watching YouTube, and viewing Facebook. They also reported that the majority of young adults access to social networks many times a day, owing to the convenience of mobile devices. “It’s much easier to look at a screen than to look someone in the eye”, Ben said. Whether we admit it or not, social networking has become a part of our daily lives. As the first generation
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Social networking services offer opportunities for young people to stay with their friends, or they can investigate alone if they wish. However, such action may cause serious consequences as they may expose their privacy information or be exposed to some dangerous and inaccurate messages as they are posting and viewing a tremendous amount of information every day. “Once information is posted to a social networking site, it is no longer private. The more information you post, the more vulnerable you may become” (“Internet Risks”, 2010). Going to a social networking service alone as a young adult is not that different from the first solo trip to a strange city. To deal with a place that can sometimes be hostile, it will be necessary for teenagers to develop the skills they need to recognize and manage risks and figure out how to judge and evaluate situations correctly. Once they know how to stay safe in this new environment, teenagers will be able to handle most situations in both the virtual and real world, thus become more …show more content…
Nevertheless, both parents and teachers will probably argue that the overuse of social networks may start to interfere with children’s relationships or their performance at school, thinking that video games “absolutely doesn’t make you accomplish anything and are the ‘Ultimate Waste of Time’” (Jackson). It sounds quite reasonable- spending too much time on the internet playing games and chatting usually won’t do any good, but is this really the case? Psychologist Isabela Granic argued that, “to understand the impact of video games on children 's and adolescents’ development, a more balanced perspective is needed”. (Bowen, “Video Games”) Playing games online undoubtedly costs time and energy, but it is very likely to give something in return. Taking myself as an example, when I was still in middle school, I have been obsessed with a computer game named WarcraftIII just like many other teenagers at that time. As I turned my passion into motivation, I created a custom map using the game editor, a simplified version of a programming tool, and the map gained more than twenty thousand of downloads shortly after I put it on the internet. Of course, my grades went down as a result of excessive time spent in front of the computer. On the other hand, I began getting followers and supports on the internet, growing more confident
Social networking services offer opportunities for young people to stay with their friends, or they can investigate alone if they wish. However, such action may cause serious consequences as they may expose their privacy information or be exposed to some dangerous and inaccurate messages as they are posting and viewing a tremendous amount of information every day. “Once information is posted to a social networking site, it is no longer private. The more information you post, the more vulnerable you may become” (“Internet Risks”, 2010). Going to a social networking service alone as a young adult is not that different from the first solo trip to a strange city. To deal with a place that can sometimes be hostile, it will be necessary for teenagers to develop the skills they need to recognize and manage risks and figure out how to judge and evaluate situations correctly. Once they know how to stay safe in this new environment, teenagers will be able to handle most situations in both the virtual and real world, thus become more …show more content…
Nevertheless, both parents and teachers will probably argue that the overuse of social networks may start to interfere with children’s relationships or their performance at school, thinking that video games “absolutely doesn’t make you accomplish anything and are the ‘Ultimate Waste of Time’” (Jackson). It sounds quite reasonable- spending too much time on the internet playing games and chatting usually won’t do any good, but is this really the case? Psychologist Isabela Granic argued that, “to understand the impact of video games on children 's and adolescents’ development, a more balanced perspective is needed”. (Bowen, “Video Games”) Playing games online undoubtedly costs time and energy, but it is very likely to give something in return. Taking myself as an example, when I was still in middle school, I have been obsessed with a computer game named WarcraftIII just like many other teenagers at that time. As I turned my passion into motivation, I created a custom map using the game editor, a simplified version of a programming tool, and the map gained more than twenty thousand of downloads shortly after I put it on the internet. Of course, my grades went down as a result of excessive time spent in front of the computer. On the other hand, I began getting followers and supports on the internet, growing more confident