The Negative Role of Social Media in Shaping Young Minds

The amount of time that kids actually get to be kids is rapidly decreasing with each new generation. They no longer choose to be worry-free and play with their friends, but instead tend to think about what’s viral and trendy. They see so much online that it becomes their norm and they try to imitate it. Kids and pre-teens are acting like teenagers while teenagers act like adults, and this fixation they have on acting older than they are is putting them in harm’s way. However, because of their young minds, they aren’t able to comprehend what their actions mean or what kind of long term effects these might have.

Studies have shown that most parents are starting to give their kids phones at the age of 10, and the internet access those phones provide are opening kids to a whole new world of information that was previously only available to adults. Because of what they are choosing to watch and interact with online and how easily children’s brains are molded and influenced, they are starting to mature at younger ages than previous generations have—before their brains and bodies are even prepared.

Kids have historically tried to imitate adults and act older than they are, but in this day and age, they have unfiltered access to all kinds of media. The adults and role models available to them are no longer limited to the people around them, but also extend to the people they see online. Unfortunately, most of the time the media they choose to view is not suitable for children or even directed towards them, and because their brains are not fully developed, most of the time they aren’t able to tell if the content they are watching is appropriate to mimic in the real world or not. Consequently, they try to imitate it without fully knowing the repercussions they might face or how others could be affected by their actions. 

A recent instance of this is the 8-year-old girl who stole her mom’s car to go on a “Target Run.” This young girl reportedly stole her mother’s car and drove 25 minutes to Target, and bought a Starbucks Frappuccino while she shopped. Following this news, instead of questioning her actions or acknowledging the danger that this young girl put herself and others in, people on the internet were in awe of her actions. Rather than adults being concerned and wondering what business an 8-year-old had at Target that was so important she endangered herself, this young girl gained fans. Children become especially vulnerable to the exploitation of social media between the ages of 10 and 12. At this vulnerable age, their brain chemistry starts to change which causes “social rewards,” like receiving a compliment, to become more satisfying. These “happy hormones,” as researchers in the American Psychological Association refer to them, make pre-teens crave validation and approval more than a regular adult would. 

This brain chemistry makes them prime targets for brands and corporations looking to sell their products. We see this example with the “Sephora kids,” who were swarming Sephora earlier this year to buy skincare products they had seen online. These kids received a lot of criticism for their disrespectful attitudes to employees at the stores, other customers and even their parents. People also raised concerns that kids were harming their skin by using these products—which are meant for adults—at such a young age. The majority of the kids who bought those products likely did so in hopes of looking like their favorite influencer or in an attempt to go viral. Although some people argue that it’s only natural for kids to imitate adults, when does this imitation go too far? 

Technology and social media are evolving too fast, and with each new invention it becomes more difficult to safeguard children from the dangers they might encounter online. The internet is filled with inappropriate content, and every day children are exposed to it. Because of this, the familiar concept of being a child is slowly disappearing as kids try to imitate the things they see online. Children prematurely try to act like the adults they see online, inadvertently causing harm to their mental and physical health. In addition, their actions are also affecting the people around them, whether it’s by simply being rude to strangers in a store or stealing a car to go shopping. For the sake of the children of current and future generations, measures need to be taken to stop social media from having complete control over their minds.