HOW

SOCIAL MEDIA IS IMPACTING

YOUTH TODAY

January 11, 2012Lynn Hollingsworth, LISW-CP

PHG COUNSELING SERVICES

50 Care program: each full time employee is provided 12 counseling sessions free of charge for their family unit.

Licensed, master’s level staff Individual, family, marital, and group

counseling available. Treat a variety of emotional, behavioral, and

relational issues. EMDR

SOCIAL MEDIA IS AMONG THE MOST COMMON ACTIVITY OF TODAY’S CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS.

WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA?Any Website that allows social interaction, such as:FacebookMySpaceTwitterYouTubeBlogsXbox Live

SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE 22% of teenagers log onto their favorite

social media site more than 10x per day. More than 50% of teenagers log on more

than 1x per day. 75% of teenagers now own cell phones.

25% use them for social media54% use them for texting

(typical teen sends 50 texts per day, 31% send >100)

24% use them for instant messagingPew Internet and American Life Project, Pew Research

Center

18% of 8-10 year olds spend time daily on social networking sites.

42% of 11-14 year olds spend time daily on social networking sites.

Kaiser Family Foundation

BENEFITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY

Staying connected with friends and family Reconnecting with old friends Making new friends Can help introverted adolescents learn how to

socialize behind the safety of a “screen” Sharing pictures and exchanging ideas Opportunities for community engagement Enhancement of creativity Growth of ideas Expanding connections thru shared interests to

include others from more diverse backgrounds. “Virtual empathy”

RISKS OF USING SOCIAL MEDIA

Cyberbullying and Online Harassment

Sexting and Online Sexual Solicitation/Predation

Privacy Concerns/Digital Footprint

Psychological DisordersNegative Impact on Learning

CYBERBULLYINGDeliberately using digital media (cell phones

or internet) to communicate false, embarrassing, or hostile information about another person. Sending mean/threatening messagesSpreading rumors online/textsPosting hurtful/threatening comments“Hacking” into accounts and sending damaging

messagesPretending to be someone else to hurt a personTaking unflattering pictures and spreading themSexting or sending sexually suggestive

messages/pictures about a person

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CYBERBULLYING AND TRADITIONAL

BULLYING

Connected to technology 24/7

Expands reach of traditional bullying

Anonymous

“Viral”

Victim’s response unseen

Lack of response by parents/adults

CYBERBULLYING STATISTICS

Over half of adolescents have been bullied online.

26% teen cell phone owners have been bullied/harassed.

Over half of adolescents have engaged in cyberbullying.

Over 25% of teens have been bullied repeatedly thru cell phones or internet.

i-SAFE foundation

CYBERBULLYING STATISTICS

1 in 10 teens will tell a parent if they have been a cyberbully victim.

Fewer than 1 in 5 cyberbullying incidents are reported to law enforcement.

1 in 10 adolescents have had embarrassing or damaging pictures taken without their permission (often with cell phone cameras)

Hartford County Examiner

CYBERBULLYING STATISTICS

Most common forms of cyberbullying are mean, hurtful comments and spreading rumors.

Girls are at least as likely as boys to be cyberbullies or victims.

Affects all races.Victims are more likely to have low self

esteem and to consider suicide.Cyberbullying Research Center

CYBERBULLYING CAN LEAD TO DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, LOW SELF ESTEEM, SOCIAL ISOLATION…

SUICIDE.

and

OTHER CONSEQUENCES OF CYBERBULLYING

Legal consequences Criminal harrassment, invasion of privacy,

stalking

SC Law Requires school districts to define bullying and

outline policies and repercussions for the behavior, including cyberbullying.

School disciplinary action (if administration can prove significant disruption at school)

SEXTING

Sending, receiving, or forwarding sexually explicit messages, photographs, or images via cell phone, computer, or other digital devices.

20% of teens have sent or posted nude or seminude photographs or videos of themselves.

National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy

CONSEQUENCES OF SEXTING

Rapid distribution leading to embarrassment/humiliation, emotional distress leading to mental health condition.

Legal consequences

SC Law

SC Proposed Law

SEXUAL SOLICITATION AND PREDATION

The act of encouraging someone to talk about sex, to do something sexual, or to share personal sexual information even when that person does not want to.

Youth are more likely to receive solicitations from same age youth, rather than by predators. http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/11/adolescentsexualactivity/newmedialitrev/index.shtml

Sexual solicitation rate for teens is estimated to be between 13-19%.

http://www.missingkids.com/en_US/publications/NC167.pdf

PRIVACY CONCERNS

One’s “digital footprint” is the collective, ongoing record of one’s Web activity

A threat to a young person’s current and future reputation

“What goes online, stays online” posing a risk to future job and college acceptance

PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

Narcissism

Anxiety

Depression

Presentation by Dr. Larry Rosen at 119th APA Convention, August 2011

“FACEBOOK DEPRESSION”Term recently suggested by American

Academy of PediatricsDefined as depression that develops when

preteens/teens spend a great deal of time on social media sites and then begin to exhibit classic symptoms of depression

Social IsolationBeing accepted by peers and having

contact with peers is an extremely important part of adolescence.

PEDIATRICS, American Academy of Pediatrics

SUICIDE AND CYBERBULLYING Youth who are bullied or who bully others are

at an elevated risk for suicidal thoughts, attempts, and completed suicide.

Victims of cyberbullying are almost twice as likely to have attempted suicide compared to youth who had not experienced cyberbullying.

Recent study (2010) found that 20% of middle school students reported “seriously thinking about attempting suicide”, while 19% reported “attempting suicide.”

Cyberbullying Research Center, 2010

REALITY OF CYBERBULLYING AND SUICIDE

Case of Ryan Patrick Halligan (October 2003)AOL instant messaging

Case of Megan Meier (October 2006)MySpace

Case of Phoebe Prince (January 2010)Facebook and texting

Case of Trevor Clementi (September 2010)Webcam and Twitter

NEGATIVE IMPACT ON LEARNING

Checking Facebook at least once every 15 minutes during studying has been linked to lower grades.

“Tech Breaks”

Presentation by Dr. Larry Rosen at 119th APA Convention, August 2011

TRENDS IN COUNSELING Skewed population sample Texting: can lead to bullying, harassment,

easier to text harsh statements than speak in person, sexting incidents exposed to others

Social Media: air out “dirty laundry” including about self and others, leads to increase conflict with friends and/or family

Feelings of low self esteem and/or anger when reading posts of “friends” getting together and being excluded from activity.

Clients are both victims and perpetrators of cyberbullying.

FACEBOOK FOR EDUCATORS

Follow any policy of your school or district regarding social media, if one exists.

Decide if you want to accept “friend requests” from students or parents.

If you do, set limitations at beginning of year, i.e. times in which you will return messages or chat online with students.

If you see a questionable post made by a student, speak to administrator/guidance counselor and decide if student’s parent should be contacted. Be upfront with students at beginning of year, if they “friend” you, they are exposing themselves.

FACEBOOK FOR EDUCATORS (CONTINUED)

Be cautious of posts made to your wall (by you or others). Remove posts that may be deemed inappropriate.

Be cautious of being tagged in photos. Remove tags of photos that may portray you in a negative light.

Utilize privacy settings to limit information shared.

Consider setting up an alternate account just for students and parents of students.

Facebook for Educators Guide on Facebook has some helpful ideas!!!

MY BIG CAMPUS

A social media site for educators and students

Set up very much like FacebookGreater control regarding your

privacyAble to post comments, blogs,

assignments, etc.Consider setting limits up front on

times in which you will be available after school hours

RESOURCESo American Psychological Association, press release August

2011o Cyberbullying Research Center Hartford County Examiner i-SAFE foundation National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned

Pregnancy National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

http://www.missingkids.com/en_US/publications/NC167.pdf PEDIATRICS, American Academy of Pediatrics

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2011/03/28/peds.2011-0054.full.pdf+html

Pew Internet and American Life Project , Pew Research Center http://pewinternet.org/Presentations/2011/Apr/From-Texting-to-Twitter.aspx

US Department of Health and Human Services, 2011 http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/11/adolescentsexualactivity/newmedialitrev/index.shtml

THANK YOU!

Contact information:lhollingsworth@phgrp.com

(864)223-5111