should your child be on social media?

It’s an important question that not many parents are actually asking. Unfortunately, as more kids and teens use social media for longer periods of time, we have a better understanding of the effects that digital platforms are having on them—and the results are not good. Here are seven reasons why it may be too soon for your child to be on social media:
 
1. Your child’s brain isn’t developed enough.
Kids’ brains are impulsive. They crave immediate gratification and become easily addicted to low-effort, high-reward stimuli. With every post, comment, like, follow and share, your kid becomes easily addicted to dopamine driven feedback loops. Sadly, once addicted, it's hard to get them free.
 
2. Your child will lose his ability to focus and concentrate.
The low-effort, high-reward activity of pings, updates, notifications, likes, and comments kill your child’s imagination and creativity. They begin to find pleasure in the immediate feedback of electronic digital rewards instead of developing a capacity to concentrate on real-life experiences. Simply things like reading, studying, and memorizing become nearly impossible for the digital junkie.
 
3. Your child will get stressed out over managing her image on social media.
Kids aren’t just interacting with friends on social media, they are actually curating an image—creating a personal brand. It quickly becomes a full-time obsession to monitor the likes and comments, to post the next perfect selfie, or to keep a particular Snapchat streak alive. It's no wonder why young kids are obsessed with their smartphones and can't put them down.
 
4. Your child will struggle with depression and anxiety.
Social platforms foster unhealthy competition, comparison, and expectations. When a girl posts a photo of herself and invites others to judge her, it affects her. In fact, a 10-year study from Brigham Young University revealed that as social media use increases among girls, so does their risk for suicide. Social media has become a social contagion significantly impairing young females and escalating the rates of mental illness.
 
5. Your child will miss out on valuable real-life experiences.
Devices are removing kids from significant, memory-making activities and experiences. Because they are glued to their phones, they miss out on real life interactions with important people that build strong emotional foundations. More and more youth are becoming isolated an unable to function socially. This entire generation of youth is in danger of become mentally, emotionally and socially impaired.
 
6. Your child will be influenced more by social media avatars than by you.
While peers are necessary, parents should remain the primary influence in their child’s life. Overuse with gaming and social media causes a premature and unhealthy shift from stable parent attachments to unstable peer attachments. Tragically, most of these attachments are toxic and destructive and lead to unhealthy attitudes and behaviors in our kids.
 
7. Your child will be in danger.
There are some seriously evil characters on social media. Instagram stories, Facebook videos, content on Snapchat and TikTok are full of gratuitous sex, perverse ideologies, delusional beliefs, and predatory people. It’s a place where kids are lost to the ungodly influences and philosophies of this world while parents are usually clueless and completely shut out.
 
How long should I wait before allowing my child to have a phone and get on social media? As long as you possibly can! Can you make them wait until 17, 18, 21 years old? The older, the better. Social media is a cultural cesspool. It offers little value and has tremendous risk. It has become a social contagion accelerating emotional illness, depression, and suicide among the youth of today.

Don’t be eager to throw your kids into this digital garbage heap. Keep them out of it as as long as you possibly can. And when the day comes that you allow them onto social media, you better be diligent. Maintain access to their devices, monitor their accounts, pay attention to what they are posting and shut it down when necessary. Be the parent, not the friend. Take authority and stay in control. Your child’s spiritual and mental health is at stake.