In this weeks debate, my fellow classmates Lauren and Kylie debated the statement Social media is ruining childhood. Lauren took the pro side debating that social media is ruining childhood while Kylie took the con side debating that social media is not ruining childhood. As always, before we began the debate we took our pre-debate vote. As you can see, our results were relatively close to half and half, which in turn, created an interesting debate with many perspectives.
Lauren’s video had some really great examples that provided a very persuasive argument, here are some of her main points:
- Social media has negative effects on mental health.
- Here Lauren explained how children’s mental health is being negatively impacted through using examples such as “FOMO”. Which Lauren described as the ‘fear of missing out’, which further examined in one of the articles shared by Lauren. This becomes problematic because social media is a snapshot of an individuals life while creating the illusion that it is their everyday life.
Social Media is additive.
- In Lauren’s video, she explains the addictive properties that social media has on children as well as yourself. For example, consider how many times do you check your social media accounts per day or how high is your average screen report time (a feature that has become available on iPhones) is, and think about whether or not you are happy with the results. I feel this point is more of a personal choice, depending on how each individual uses social media, but I see how it contributes to this argument.
- Children are unaware of danger online.
- Here Lauren identified that the internet is forever and we need to consider if children should have access to something where they can post or send messages on a platform that lasts forever, following them into their adult lives.
- Social Media is a platform for bullying.
Kylie also had some insightful points, here are some of the main points she included:
- Social media opens doors.
- Kylie identified how many children are able to find their passions through social media. Here Kylie discussed how these skills/hobbies can be nurtured and used a place of learning through social media such as YouTube videos.
- Encourages children to take a stand.
Here Kylie talked about how, through the use of social media, children’s voices are being heard and they can use that to take a stand. This concept is further explored in this article. In turn, this enables children to connect and participate in social change or movements that are happening around the globe.
- Promotes mental health initiatives.
- Social media is unavoidable.
- Kylie also discusses how children want to use social media. This article, shared by Kylie, discusses how social media has become part of our society and is becoming near impossible to dismiss. Thus, it becomes more beneficial to teach about how to use social media responsibly. ETDC 300 student Jana Schlosser shared an interesting resource advocating for the safe use of social media, which relates to this point via twitter:
Both debaters did a great job with this debate and offered thought-provoking statements such as, “Social Media is both good and scary, as is the world” (Kylie) and, “Children often measure the value of their lives by number likes and shares” (Lauren). During the debate, the nostalgia of childhood was brought up. I think this is also important to acknowledge, as sometimes we like to reflect on the past and think that things were ‘better in the old days’ when that might not have been the case for everyone – Cody does a good job of summarizing this concept in his blog post. In any case, it is hard to determine if social media is ruining childhood or not because there are both positives and negatives within this debate so I will remain neutral. Thanks again debaters for this interesting discussion!